SDG #6: Clean water
According to the Sustainable Development Goals, companies and organisations have to “increase water-use efficiency across all sectors and ensure sustainable withdrawals and supply of freshwater to address water scarcity by 2030.” The manufacturing industry uses 57% of all available surface water, making it the biggest consumer of this resource. We must admit that as a social enterprise and an industrial company, WAAK also uses a lot of water. Fortunately, everyone understands the need for an alternative approach.
Setting a good example
As an ethical company, we like to try and set a good example in terms of sustainability and circularity. However, we realise that before we start looking at others, we must look to our own business processes first. As an industrial company we use a lot of water. Too much, in fact. Fortunately, more and more people in our company are aware of the vital importance of protecting our water resources.
Plant nursery
WAAK’s plant nursery has 4,500 m² of greenhouses, growing 900,000 plants every year. To grow those plants, we use as much rainwater as possible. We collect the water in a 730 m² reservoir that can contain up to 3.5 million litres of water. This water mainly comes from the rain that falls on the roofs of the greenhouses. The fields are another source, in which we have constructed canals to drain excess water into the reservoir. We keep this reservoir water for use during dry spells. 
Underground wells
Our buildings have a footprint of over 75,000 m². We capture the rain that falls on the roofs of each of WAAK’s production units. Captured rainwater is gathered in 7 enormous underground wells, collecting about 3.5 million litres of water every year. We use this water in our production systems. So, when water is scarce, its direct availability is not only convenient for us, it also helps prevent us making additional demands on our environment.