H8. Water

Withdrawal, use and discharge of water

Essity’s reporting of water withdrawal states totals for surface water, groundwater and municipal water systems. Surface water, which represents the largest share of water withdrawal, as a general rule must be purified from dissolved and solid content before use in the production process. Most of Essity’s water is used to transport fibers during production processes. The remainder is mainly used as cooling water.

Essity’s water discharge is divided into cooling water and process water. Cooling water has simply been heated and is not contaminated in any way. Process water is treated using mechanical and biological treatment systems before it is discharged.

In 2021, six of Essity’s wholly owned paper mills were located in water-stressed areas with the risk of a water shortage. The sites accounted for 7% of Essity’s total water withdrawal, distributed between 32% from surface sources, 44% from groundwater and the remainder from recycled water or from municipal water systems. Total water withdrawal from these facilities in 2021 was 6.7 million m³, water discharges 4.5 million m³ and water consumption 2.2 million m³.

Any environmental incidents are registered in a central incident-reporting system. In 2021, no incidents relating to temporary exceedances of permitted limit values for waste water were registered. No incident was of such a magnitude that it posed a threat to an emissions permit.

Read more about how Essity works with water in the chapter Reduced environmental impact – Biodiversity and ecosystems.

Source of water withdrawal 2021 (pie chart)

Recipient of discharged water 2021 (pie chart)

H8. Water

Withdrawal, use and discharge of water

Source of water withdrawal 2021

Recipient of discharged water 2021