Nestlé Waters & Premium Beverages (NW&PB) has announced a pioneering achievement in global water stewardship, becoming the first food or beverage company worldwide to secure 100 per cent certification of all its 39 bottling sites to the Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS) Standard. Two sites – Buxton, UK and Tunuyan, Argentina, achieved Platinum certification, the highest level available.
As water stress and extreme weather put growing pressure on rivers, aquifers and communities, effective water stewardship increasingly depends on action beyond a factory fence line. By working with local partners in the watersheds where it operates, Nestlé Waters & Premium Beverages is working to help strengthen long term water resilience for people, nature and business continuity.
The AWS Standard – which is the only globally-recognised independent framework for water stewardship – is a cornerstone of NW&PB’s core commitment to collective water resilience and sustainable water management, guiding how the business cares for water in its factories, within watersheds and in communities. This landmark accomplishment will continue annually and is the result of years of dedicated effort across its global operations, covering Europe, the Middle East, Africa, South America and Asia.
In the mindset of continuous improvement, this certification milestone is complemented by the successful implementation of 70 water regeneration projects implemented in its sites globally, answering to its ambition to protect, restore and return more water than it uses in its operations.
All of the water regeneration projects are implemented in close collaboration with local partners to answer shared water challenges, creating resilience for people, nature and the business. Measurable using the World Resources Institute’s Volumetric Water Benefit Accounting methodology. This provides consistency in analysing water management activities and helps ensure that such activities address current and future shared water needs and issues. By the end of 2025, together these projects were locally regenerating 14.1 million m3 of water per year. As they mature to their full potential, they will help deliver more water locally than the company uses in its operations.
Further advancing its strategic focus on water resilience for both quantity and quality, Nestlé Waters & Premium Beverages is announcing the extension of its engagement with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). This follows three successful years of collaboration, with IUCN providing strategic and science-based advice, including helping to align project execution with the IUCN Global Standard for Nature-based Solutions.
Looking forward, Nestlé Waters & Premium Beverages will continue to work with AWS and IUCN to ensure ongoing improvement and scaling to further collective action for the protection and restoration of freshwater ecosystems and strategic catchments.
Muriel Lienau, CEO of Nestlé Waters & Premium Beverages said: “We are pleased to share these significant milestones today on AWS certification and water regeneration. Good water stewardship is part of our DNA and strong water resilience is a strategic imperative for our business – that’s why we look to collaborate everywhere we operate to ensure we address any shared water challenges, now and for the future. This is something we’ve been working on for decades.
“We remain committed to protect, restore and return water where we operate. Water resilience has a growing awareness on the international agenda and we know no one can achieve this on their own. By partnering with experts, local organisations and communities we know that collaboration at catchment level is the key for meaningful impact.”
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