Nestlé Pure Life has continued its commitment to sustainable water management and environmental conservation by receiving the Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS)certification, the world-class standard that recognizes good water resource stewardship practices, for the company’s factory in Surat Thani. Last year, Nestlé Pure Life ‘s factory in Ayutthaya was the first to be certified. This recent achievement marks Nestlé Pure Life as the only company in Thailand to be certified by this prestigious institution, emphasizing the company’s success  that reflects thecommitment to sustainable water management and environmental conservation, in line with Nestlé’s purpose of ‘Enhancing quality of life and contributing to a healthier future’.

“At Nestle Pure Life, we recognize the importance of sustainable water resources for today and for the future. Water is a scarce resource with less than 1 percent of the world’s supply usable for consumption. Nestlé Pure Life, as the no.1 drinking bottled water in the world, cares for water conservation and has been committed to responsibly and sustainably managing water resources for future generations by following water stewardship practice, starting with where we operate. Therefore, we are truly pleased that our Surat Thani factory has been certified by the international AWS standard. As part of the commitment to making water resource stewardship the topmost priority, we strive to achieve the AWS standard in all our Nestle Waters factories around the world by 2025.,” says Luca Chioda, Business Executive Officer – Waters, Nestlé (Thai) Ltd.

The AWS Standard is the only recognized international standard for water stewardship.  It requires that water-using operations understand shared challenges within the catchment where they operate as well as the water risks and opportunities facing the site itself.  The AWS Standard recognizes and encourages best practices by water-using sites, continuous improvement and collaboration between sites and their stakeholders on catchment challenges.  AWS seeks to achieve four water outcomes at a site and catchment level; sustainable water balance, good water quality, good water governance and healthy important water-related areas

Chris Wootton, Chief Executive Officer – AWS Asia-Pacific adds: “AWS is leading a global movement for responsible use of freshwater in a way that is socially and economically beneficial and environmentally sustainable. Over recent years, we have been joined in that movement by major companies, non-government organisations (NGOs) and governments. Nestlé has been at the forefront of that movement, so we are delighted that Nestlé Pure Life has shown such strong commitment to sustainable water stewardship. The achievement of Surat Thani factory as the second site in Thailand certified to the AWS standard, following Ayutthaya factory, reflects the commitment of Nestlé (Thai) Ltd that helps setting a new benchmark for others to focus not only on quality of the product but also on the sustainability of water resources, ecosystems and communities around their operations.”

The key objectives of Nestle Pure Life’s efforts in encouraging environmental sustainability and water resource conservation include understanding the local communities around their factories expectations towards water usage and consumption, constant monitoring of water quality to safeguard water resources where they operate, as well as implementing the long-term sustainability project, especially the community surrounding the company’s factory. Recently, Nestle Pure Life’s factory in Surat Thani has invited the representatives of local community and students from Wat Thung Siad School to attend an event regarding the factory’s AWS certification and attend a special workshop on clean water and learn the basic skill of testing water quality in order to apply in their daily lives and share this know-how to friends and family members.

Somporn Jaichuen, Village Head of Moo5, Tha Rong Chang Sub-district, Surat Thani, a representative from local community says: “As a representative of the community, I am pleased and appreciated that Nestlé (Thai) Ltd has continuously been involved in supporting the community in many occasion for the past 2 years, ever since the factory was first operated. We have witnessed the commitment and the sincerity of the company, trying to reach out to the community through many activities, from providing clean water supply to its “Coffee Tour” activity where representatives of Nestle Pure Life’s factory set up a monthly meeting with representatives from the governments, state enterprises, private sectors and communities nearby the factory, to share and exchange information in order to help developing the community sustainably. On behalf of the people of Moo 5, Baan Kuan Sai, I would like to congratulate all parties involved in this achievement and wish for the company to continue maintaining this high standard in a long term,”

Bumpen Sakeaw, the School Director of Wat Thung Siad School also adds: “Besides its constant support of clean water supply for school activities, Nestle Pure Life’s Surat Thani factory also sent its experts to test the quality of water using at the school and ensure its cleanliness and safety, which has been one of many supports that we truly appreciated. Moreover, the factory staff has always welcomed our teachers and students to visit the factory for educational workshop, and also reached out to the community and offered helping hands in order to protect the environment within the community. On behalf of Wat Thung Siad School, I would like to congratulate for the company’s success of receiving the AWS certification”.