Water

Clean, plentiful water is an important resource for our companies and communities. Since 2009, our operating companies have reduced water consumption by approximately 27 percent. We introduced a water intensity goal to further our companies’ progress in water reductions:

TOTAL WATER WITHDRAWAL

Each operating company is responsible for identifying and executing its own strategy to meet this goal.

For instance, in 2016, R.J. Reynolds and SFNTC installed water meters in several facilities to better monitor water consumption in the manufacturing process. These meters also enable the operating companies to identify and fix any potential underground leaks or abnormal water usage within facilities, reducing overall water usage.

Additionally, in 2016, R.J. Reynolds completed the implementation of several large-scale water reduction projects, including vacuum pump water reuse, HVAC system process changes, and boiler blowdown water management and boiler feed water pumping system improvements. These changes reduced the company’s water consumption by a total of 55 million gallons per year, which amounts to 13 percent of their water usage. The changes also reduce wastewater generated and discharged. In addition, more than $500,000 in water and wastewater costs were eliminated.

To further minimize their water footprint, SFNTC began construction of a rainwater harvesting project, which will collect water from building storm-water runoff for use in landscape irrigation. The project will be completed in 2017.

ASC installed a new HVAC water treatment system at its Memphis, Tenn., location. The system, which recirculates water five times before fresh water is needed, has saved approximately 1.3 million gallons of water and almost 35,000 kilowatt hours of energy since its installation in August 2016. Additionally, ASC’s Memphis operations introduced a new process to cool loose leaf tobacco, saving approximately 155,000 gallons of water each year.

While production increased following the 2015 Lorillard acquisition, our companies’ water conservation efforts led to a 9 percent reduction in total water use between 2016 and 2015. This represents a 23 percent decrease in water intensity compared to 2015 and a 40 percent reduction over the 2014 baseline, exceeding our 2020 goal. 

Our operating companies also recognize the importance of their suppliers adopting good water management practices, and suppliers of tobacco receive water-management training in their Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) training. Read about our environmental supply chain strategy in the Responsible Agriculture section.