Branston environmental expert to address Water Footprint event

15 December 2008

Vidyanath Gururajan, Chair of the Environmental Forum at Branston Ltd, is to speak at a national conference on the importance of measuring corporate water footprints. He is among a number of industry experts and practitioners addressing delegates at the Water Footprint Summit at Olympia, London on 16th and 17th December.

Branston Ltd, the UK’s leading supplier of potatoes, is involved in a number of environmental initiatives to minimise use of non-renewable resources, reduce waste and develop long term  sustainability.

Vidyanath (also known as Vee) has been heavily involved in the projects that contributed towards Branston’s recent achievement of the Carbon Trust Standard .

“Environmental best practice is important for all business, but especially so in the food industry,” says Vee. “It’s not just about securing a more stable environment for our future, but also reducing costs and increasing efficiency. Water is a key resource in our industry and we need to take steps now to manage it for the long term.”

Vee heads up capital expenditure projects across the company so he is well placed to join a panel of experts, fielding questions on the financial viability and organisation of large and small scale water conservation and reuse projects.

“Water conservation projects come in all shapes and sizes and what might be right for one business may not be right for another. For example a small scale project like introducing water efficient taps may have a payback of just one to two years. However a large scale project like investing in rainwater harvesting or other similar projects could have a payback of up to eight years. For Branston it’s about looking forward to a sustainable long term future for the business from an environmental perspective, rather than just focusing on short term business priorities,” added Vee.

Vee will share an insight into some of the projects Branston has been involved in, how these have contributed to the company’s achievement of the Carbon Trust Standard and how they have improved overall efficiency.

For more information about the Water Footprint Summit 2008 visit www.water-footprint.com.