ANTWERP, Belgium--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Monsanto Co.’s Antwerp site is the first in Flanders to receive a gold-level European Water Stewardship (EWS) certificate. The certificate acknowledges Monsanto's expertise in sustainable water management. This award strengthens the Antwerp facility's leadership role in the Port of Antwerp in terms of water management. Monsanto has been investing for years in innovative technology to guarantee efficient and high-quality water management. In the coming years Monsanto will continue to invest in sustainable water use, with the ultimate objective of innovating in the use of wastewater treatment for acceptable reuse on-site.
A first for Monsanto's Antwerp site: Monsanto is the first company in Flanders, and the first in the chemical sector in Belgium, to obtain a gold-level European Water Stewardship certificate, the highest recognition awarded. The EWS certificate, developed by the European Water Partnership, rewards the efforts of companies in the area of sustainable water management. Water management at Monsanto's Antwerp site was assessed by the independent agency Vinçotte. The certificate confirms the leadership role of Monsanto in terms of water management at the Port of Antwerp.
Sustainable water use efforts at Monsanto's Antwerp site
To
obtain the certificate, the Antwerp Monsanto site, with the help of
experts from Environmental Resources Management, established an
exhaustive inventory of the company’s water use. Monsanto then committed
itself to reducing its water use in the operations of its Antwerp site.
Each year, the site uses 3.5 m3 millions of water and through
numerous efforts, Monsanto saves at this point 1 m3 millions
of water in relation to 10 years ago. On top of that, Monsanto minimises
the level of contaminants in the site’s wastewater in order to mitigate
its impact on the natural resources and drinking water extraction areas
in the vicinity. In addition, the Antwerp site recognises the need to
integrate sustainable water management in its business strategy. Frank
Lingier, Manager of Monsanto’s Antwerp site: “We have been investing
for years in reducing water consumption at the Antwerp site. The
application of innovative technology makes it possible for us to use
water sustainably and efficiently. The staff is also trained on the
issue of sustainable water use.”
The launch of new ambitious goals
At the certificate
handover ceremony, the Antwerp production site expressed ambitious goals
for the future. While continuing its stringent monitoring of water use,
Monsanto will work to continuously improve its high standards by further
reducing its water footprint. These efforts in sustainable water
management will also be expanded to include the activities of
contractors at the site. In addition, Monsanto aims to replace a
significant amount of the water currently used with purified wastewater.
This will allow the site to use water even more efficiently and further
reduce its environmental footprint.
Monsanto helps farmers improve harvests while using fewer scarce resources. For the farmer, water and its availability and quality are essential inputs. Monsanto seeks to partner with various environmental experts to develop seeds and agricultural systems that use water more efficiently and are more resilient to water stress.
The Antwerp Monsanto site employs 800 people to produce chemical products for four different companies, including Henkel, Eastman and Ferro in addition to Monsanto.
About Monsanto
Monsanto is committed to bringing a broad
range of solutions to help nourish our growing world. We produce seeds
for fruits, vegetables and other key crops – such as maize, soybeans,
and cotton – that help farmers have better harvests while using water
and other important resources more efficiently. We work to find
sustainable solutions for soil health, help farmers use data to improve
farming practices and conserve natural resources, and provide crop
protection products to minimize damage from pests and disease. We
partner with farmers, researchers, nonprofit organizations, universities
and others to help tackle some of the world’s biggest challenges.
To learn more about Monsanto, our commitments and our more than 20,000 dedicated employees, please visit: discover.monsanto.com and monsanto.eu. Follow our business on Twitter® at twitter.com/MonsantoEurope, on the company blog, monsantoblog.eu, at YouTube.com/MonsantoEurope or subscribe to our News Release RSS Feed.
About EWS
Developed in a multi-stakeholder process
coordinated by the European Water partnership, the European Water
Stewardship (EWS) is a cohesive system for business and agriculture to
assess, improve, and communicate sustainable water management practices.
EWS encourages water users to become stewards by assessing and improving
the way they use and manage water in a holistic way. Amongst the tools
provided, is the certification process via the EWS standard which allows
users to not only mitigate their physical, regulatory and reputational
risks but also share their journey on the way to stewardship.
For
more information see http://www.ewp.eu/activities/ews/.
About ERM
Environmental Resources Management (ERM) is a
leading global provider of environmental, health, safety, risk, social
consulting services and sustainability related services. We have over
150 offices in over 40 countries and territories employing more than
5,000 people. ERM is committed to providing a service that is
consistent, professional and of the highest quality to create value for
our clients. Over the past five years we have worked for more than 50
per cent of the Global Fortune 500 delivering innovative solutions for
business and selected government clients helping them understand and
manage the sustainability challenges that the world is increasingly
facing.
About Vinçotte
At Vinçotte we want to help guarantee the
reputation of our industrial and regular clients when it comes to
quality, safety and the environment. As independent and impartial
service provider we offer inspections, testing, certification and
training in these fields. Our expertise includes more than 130 services
(electricity, hoisting apparatus, pressure equipment, civil engineering,
safety in the work place, environmental protection and radiant
protection) in a variety of sectors.
The Vinçotte group has an
annual turnover of 201 million euros and 16 offices worldwide. Our
headquarters are situated in Vilvoorde, Belgium. For more information: www.vincotte.be
