Water DataBase Project: Quantis Creates Database to Help Companies Manage Their Impact on Water Resources

Quantis, an international firm specialized in sustainability, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), carbon footprinting and water footprinting, is joining forces with a consortium of businesses to develop an innovative water-footprint database.

Quantis is creating the first comprehensive database of water footprints across various sectors of manufacturing. To bring this project to fruition, Lausanne-based Quantis is working in partnership with Ecoinvent, the leading supplier of LCA data. In addition, seven partner companies support this project. These companies are food and beverage corporations Danone (France) and Kraft Foods (USA), Molson Coors Brewing Company (UK) Ltd, cosmetics manufacturer Natura (Brazil), consumer products group Unilever PLC (UK), environmental services group Veolia Environnement (France) and office furniture manufacturer and space planner Steelcase (USA). Thanks to its experience in LCA and water footprint, Quantis is acting as coordinator of this Water DataBase Project.

In some countries, demand for water from manufacturing industries exceeds 60% of total water use while, on a global scale, the agricultural sector ties up 70% of the fresh water used by all sectors as a whole. Excessive use of water resources is impacting the environment, people's health, and social and political balances. By calculating the water footprint of their business activities or products, companies can become part of the solution while properly managing their own strategic risks relating to water shortages. Against the backdrop of climate change, availability of water has become a matter of serious concern for society at large - with several conferences held on this theme (World Water Week, London Business Conference, Ethical Corporation, etc) meeting with a great deal of success. In addition, new standards on water management are being developed by different initiatives while reporting organisations (Global Reporting Initiative and Carbon Disclosure Project) now include a water dimension in their reports.

The database offered by Quantis aims to provide a complete life-cycle view of a company's or product's water footprint so that impacts associated with water can be reduced. Life cycles span the entire supply chain, encompassing logistics and utilisation. The Water DataBase Project is covering several thousands of processes and is adaptable to different regions so that local conditions can be taken into account.

"As a leading agro-food company in water resources management, Danone supports and is fully committed to this project. An accurate, comprehensive database is fundamental to water-footprint management," states Jean-Christophe Bligny, head of environment at Danone's water division. "Through the Water DataBase Project, it will be possible to identify ways in which environmental impacts can be reduced, instigate policies safeguarding water resources and improve water footprints throughout our products' life cycles."

The project has just been launched. We look forward to hearing from other companies wanting to join the project.

For further information, please visit our website http://www.quantis-intl.com/waterdatabase.php

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