As worthy of protection as life itself: Water
Ensuring access to clean water and sanitation for all people worldwide by 2030 is one of the sustainable development goals agreed by the United Nations (UN) in 2015. And for good reason: in just two years, two-thirds of the world's population will be affected by water scarcity if no action is taken. Currently, one in three people worldwide do not have access to clean drinking water and 4.5 billion people lack sustainable sanitation. LANXESS supports the UN agenda and is actively working to improve this situation.
At the same time, water is also needed for the production of important chemical intermediates, additives, specialty chemicals, plastics and consumer protection products - so LANXESS is applying expertise and products here, too, to protect and treat water.
Real commitment: Clean water for all
Water plays a central role in LANXESS's strategy in three thematic areas:
- As a leading supplier of water treatment products,
- through a sustainable water management program introduced in 2020; and
- with concrete water projects for communities at sites worldwide.
1. Products for pure water
The Liquid Purification Technologies business unit of LANXESS sets standards for water purification with its brands and products. Some examples:
- The Lewatit® ion exchanger can be used to treat process and wastewater, to remove pollutants from drinking water and to decalcify water for household use.
- In addition to ion exchange resins based on fossil raw materials, LANXESS now also offers resin grades that are produced proportionately from sustainable raw materials using the mass balance process.
- The LewaPlus® software enables efficient planning and implementation of water treatment plants.
- Arsenic is now considered one of the greatest chemical threats to the earth's drinking water resources, especially in groundwater. Bayoxide® brand iron oxide adsorbers help eliminate arsenic from drinking water.
2. From theory to practice: the Water Program
As a chemical company, LANXESS faces up to its responsibility to decouple its own water consumption from economic growth - and pursues clear goals: reducing specific water consumption overall and local water consumption, especially at sites where water is scarce. To this end, a water risk analysis is regularly carried out at LANXESS's international sites to accurately measure what is known as "water stress," i.e. the relationship between water withdrawal and renewable water supplies. The benchmark for this assessment is the Water Risk Map of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).
India (Jhagadia & Nagda), Italy (Latina) & China (Qingdao) were identified as risk locations. Measures followed with firmly defined targets for 2023: 1. reducing water withdrawals by an absolute 15 percent (e.g. through increased water recycling) and 2. implementing local water stewardship projects to address issues such as polluted water locally. Again, the commitment extends beyond the sites themselves, such as in Nagda, India, where LANXESS has built its own wastewater treatment plant that treats wastewater from surrounding towns for industrial use. The commitment is acknowledged: In 2021, the Confederation of Indian Industry named the Nagda site "The best Water Management Company of the Year".
LANXESS AG
3. Concrete water projects at the sites
Since 2014, LANXESS has invested a total of almost one million euros in 38 water projects in the communities around its sites, benefiting around 300,000 people. For example, schools have been supplied with clean water, water treatment products for private households have been subsidized, and rainwater has been collected and stored.
In India, for example, a water reservoir with a capacity of around 10,000 liters was installed to address the problem of drinking water shortages in the Nagda area. There and in Jhagadia, LANXESS' activities focus on replenishing the groundwater table by collecting and storing rainwater. Several villages benefit from this.
After a market analysis conducted in Pakwach, Uganda, revealed that 90 percent of residents were consuming untreated water from the Nile River, causing more and more people to fall ill, LANXESS supported a newly established initiative there: subsidized water purifiers were used to give low-income families access to safe water in their homes.
In the USA, LANXESS supports "Pure Thirst" at Duquesne University: an organization that works with the Olkokola community in northern Tanzania to improve access to clean water. In China, LANXESS is contributing its expertise in water treatment with the "Clean Water for Better Life" initiative, and in Canada the company sponsors the Enviro-Stewards Safe Water Project initiative, which is aligned with the SDG goals.
LANXESSCommitment to water - on World Water Day and beyond
LANXESS has understood: Responsible management of water as a resource goes beyond its sites. A holistic approach along the value chain and, in particular, the involvement of local communities are important success factors in protecting the precious resource of water - 365 days a year.
LANXESS' commitment to clean water in figures
■ LPT Business Unit: approx. 470 employees, 3 production sites, approx. 160 products
■ Water consumption: 81% for cooling, 17% for use in chemical processes, 2% in the form of steam
■ Water projects 2014 - 2022: 38 projects, total €953,958.94, 229,041 beneficiaries.
