10 SUSTAINABILITY


treatment plants allow an improvement to the residual quality of releases like bamboo-based or reed-based treatment purification. In some case, the water released after treatment reaches a better quality than the water extracted from the surrounded environment. Furthermore, another option to reduce the waste-water releases consists of recovering residual water as fertilisers for farming (in accordance to the local regulation) or as biomass-based energy (methano-genesis system) for heating or electricity production. Sustainable water use for the food /


beverage industry must be challenged across the whole life cycle of the product, from short- term to long-term, and at the local scale.


» The food and beverage industry has a clear challenge to manage properly its environmental impacts «


Nevertheless, the management of water and the usage impact cannot be envisaged without taking into consideration two other main environmental factors; climate change through CO2


and biodiversity. Indeed, the link between water, CO2 and biodiversity is obvious and each


solution addressing the environmental impacts must be chosen to well balance mitigation for the three ‘reservoirs’. For instance, in order to reduce the amount of water used, a factory might be tempted to recycle water using a purification treatment which can be a high energy-consuming process (e.g. reverse- osmosis). If the factory is located in a water- abundant area, the final impact by abstracting water might be totally negligible in terms of water amount, while the CO2


impact due to


energy use would not be. Thus recycling water would not be the right solution. The food and beverage industry has a clear


challenge to manage properly its environmental impacts. The Industry must seek ways to assess correctly its impacts, allowing the identification of levers and sustainable solutions. The cross- analysis of the carbon, water and biodiversity impacts is necessary in order to choose the right solutions for the future.


Jean-Christophe Bligny has been the Environment Director of Danone Waters Worldwide Business Unit since 2007. He is in charge of water resources management, environment and sustainable development. He


has a transversal role in Danone Group for the coordination of Carbon, Water and Biodiversity footprints, ensuring a leading role in sustainable development projects within national and international organisations. He is an active member of trade associations (UNESDA, EFBW, ANIA, etc) and the business initiative (BIER). Mr. Bligny is also involved in the French Environmental Information initiative and participates in several working groups.


From 1999 to 2006, Mr. Bligny was responsible for water resources and environment of the French water business unit of Groupe DANONE. Besides the environmental coordination of the industrial sites, he was in charge of water resource protection policies, and sustainable management of water resources. He has set up associations in order to engage local communities in protection initiatives, and has acted as the secretary of these associations, in charge of animation and coordination of the political and technical programmes.


Before 1999, he was in charge of quality and water resources for the Salvetat brand and responsible for driving the analytical development in the Hydrochemistry department of the Water Technology Centre of Groupe DANONE. He also contributed his expertise in several countries operating bottled water businesses.


Mr Bligny is a doctor in hydrogeology, graduated from University of Paris VI, France. He has also a Master in geochemistry and geophysics. He is member of the International Association of the Hydrogeologists.


New Food Volume 14, Issue 3, 2011


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