Water and wastewater

Water supply and pollution is another serious global concern. Not only is climate change threatening water resources, but unsustainable use of water and industry-related water pollution is accelerating this process. Our business depends on the availability of large amounts of water for production. In our production processes, water is used as process water, non-contact steam and condensates, and non-contact cooling water. 

The Thaya in Austria, the Rhine in France, the Neckar Canal in Germany and the Welland Canal in Canada are the water basins from which Jungbunzlauer withdraws water, either from surface or from ground depending on the production site. The German basin, and newly the Canadian one following an update of the Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas in 2023, are considered as areas with water stress. Precise and continuous water accounting is in place in order to monitor closely water withdrawal, discharge and consumption and comply with all local regulations.

The cooling water is recycled multiple times in all production sites except in Canada where it is once-through. To be able to fulfil its purpose, the recycled cooling water is cooled down in cooling towers, and in Austria now also with heat pumps, before being re-used. 

Process water is treated in state-of-the-art on-site wastewater treatment plants at all our production sites before release to the water basin. The wastewater treatment plants are operated by Jungbunzlauer or, in the case of France, by a third party. A dedicated manager supervises the wastewater treatment process in each production site. We strive to ensure continuously adequate treatment of water effluents in order to comply with all local regulatory requirements.

Efficiency targets are set annually by the Vice President Manufacturing and Technology for the specific water usage and the chemical oxygen demand (COD) load of the wastewater stream of every main production line for each production site. The specific water consumption of every main production line is reported monthly. The COD concentration of wastewater streams is monitored continuously by adequate equipment, or daily where continuous monitoring is not possible. Specific Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are reported internally on a daily basis for each wastewater treatment plant. Several KPIs are reported monthly or annually to the regional environmental authorities. Key aspects of water and wastewater management are consolidated annually in the Responsible Care^® Report of each production site. Water and wastewater management are also important pillars of the external audits conducted for the Responsible Care^® certification of our Austrian and Canadian production sites, and for the ISO 14001 certification of the environmental management system of our German production site.

In our wastewater treatment plant in Austria, we produce biogas by directing certain wastewater streams into anaerobic digesters as pre-treatment step to the conventional aerobic treatment of wastewater. The biogas is burned on-site to produce steam for the main production process.

We aim to reduce our water withdrawal and consumption as much as possible. Additionally, we strive for systematic compliance of all set limits regarding wastewater treatment. We also continuously try to increase the recycling of water streams, where feasible.