Regenerative Agriculture Framework: Water Management

The group monitors the amount of water used and usage intensity in all our upstream operations.

Each region primarily determines its water management and monitoring approaches according to regulatory requirements. Water data is collected at the site level and may vary from operation to operation. SD Guthrie is currently reviewing our internal processes to collect this data at the Group level, as doing so will ensure consistency and comparability. We have set a 5-year target of an annual water intensity reduction of 6% against the baseline of 1.4m3/tonne of FFB in 2019. We are currently streamlining our data collection approach and will refine our targets moving forward.

SD Guthrie has conducted the Water Footprint Assessment (WFA) in our Malaysia operations, with plans to expand it to Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. WFA is a comprehensive process used to measure and analyse the amount of water used in our operations. These initiatives were designed to identify key water-related risks connected to SD Guthrie’s activities across different stages of our value chain and operations.

In response to the findings of the pilot study, SD Guthrie endeavours to enhance productivity, thereby improving the water footprint per ton of FFB. Additionally, the Company aims to decrease reliance on fertilisers and pesticides by implementing good agricultural practices.
With good site level water management plans in place, water business risks can be continually managed.

To strengthen our sustainability practices, we introduced new technologies to improve the treatment of industrial wastewater. Patent applications have been submitted in Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand for a process using electro-oxidation to treat palm oil mill effluent, and in Malaysia for treating vegetable oil refinery effluent using the same method.

Our top priority is to ensure our employees have access to safe drinking water and sanitation. We take periodic water samples from the river systems, and the results have shown no significant deterioration of water quality.