Water

Our production processes, particularly the cleaning of packaging, machinery and production areas, involve the use of large quantities of water. This water must then be treated and discharged; this is an energy-intensive process.

This concerns water usage at all Van Loon Group production sites.

We aim to minimise both water consumption (volume) and the level of water pollution.

CSO

Within the Van Loon Group, most of the water is used for the daily cleaning of production areas, equipment and packaging. We aim to reuse as much water as possible, but the residual flow is treated as wastewater after purification.

Grease and sediment are separated from the water via the grease traps at our sites. After this process, the wastewater goes to the municipal sewer system and is further treated by the Water Board. At the Best and Denekamp sites, we also use physical and physico-chemical pre-treatment. The wastewater is easily treated by the sewage treatment plants.

Last year, the site in Eersel carried out a project to reduce the pollution load of the wastewater. All major flows to the sewer were mapped out and, together with staff, we looked at how these could be discharged in a different way. The project started in March and resulted in a 30% reduction in the number of pollution units by the end of the year.

The treatment process has also been optimised at our site in Denekamp. A turbidity meter has been installed; this meter controls the dosage of the chemicals required for treatment. A different type of chemical has also been selected, thereby improving the physical-chemical treatment. In addition, water usage has fallen by 9% by critically reviewing the (cleaning) processes.

Next year, we will be working on reducing the pollution load in the wastewater at the Best site. We will draw on the experience gained at the Eersel site to determine how we can improve the existing grease separation system following a source-based approach.