3M joins Water Resilience Coalition, CEO Water Mandate
18 August 2021: 3M is joining the Water Resilience Coalition (WRC), taking one more step forward in the company’s ongoing commitment to help the nearly two billion people worldwide living in water-stressed and water-scarce communities.
“3M is proactively applying our science and innovation to improve the water supply used in our operations and the communities we serve,” said Mike Roman, 3M CEO. “We are committed to sharing our expertise on global water solutions, and our participation in the WRC will expand and amplify our efforts.”
By joining the WRC leadership committee and endorsing the United Nations Global Compact’s CEO Water Mandate, 3M will be working to preserve the world’s freshwater resources and achieve a net positive water impact. It will also be better positioned to advance its ongoing work to improve the environment and build a brighter future around the world.
“3M’s expertise in science and creative solutions finds a significant space of opportunity in the CEO Water Mandate,” said Jason Morrison, President of the Pacific Institute and Head of the CEO Water Mandate. “Additionally, by being a part of the leadership committee of the Water Resilience Coalition they also join a leading platform on water for businesses that are elevating their ambition and accelerating results through collective action on water.”
In 2020, 3M’s annual evaluation identified 16 facilities in extremely high water-stressed/scarce global locations, including locations in France, India, Mexico, Spain, Thailand, Turkey and the United States. After the assessment, work began to understand current baselines and onboarding for those new sites, continuing into the first half of 2021. For example, the company began working with the Juarez (Mexico) City Water Department in 2016 to receive treated wastewater for on-site services. In 2017, 80% of total water consumed in three out of five buildings was treated or recycled water and in 2020, the site transitioned the remaining two buildings. It expects to save 10 million liters (2.6 million gallons) of water.
Since 2015, 3M has had a goal to engage 100% of water-stressed/scarce communities where it manufactures on community-wide approaches to water management. Each 3M site located in a water-stressed area is required to understand its water use, and associated business risks and impacts, and must work with local water resources to understand potential impacts on the surrounding area. Those sites are also asked to do water conservation planning, outlining current and future water conservation efforts.
