Environment Responsible water usage Water is one of our planet's most precious resources and access to clean water is a basic human right. We therefore have a duty to use water carefully, particularly against the backdrop of climate change and its impact on the global water supply. At Blum, we consider it our responsibility to keep water consumption to a minimum by reusing water wherever possible in closed-loop cycles and only releasing non-hazardous wastewater back into the sewerage system. Our sites primarily use water for basic infrastructure, such as sanitary facilities and drinking water, and for industrial processes, including as a coolant. We maintain documented records for all these water systems and take regular samples for monitoring purposes. Management and monitoring are carried out using our ISO 14001 and ISO 50001-certified environmental and energy management systems. Water use at all our sites is subject to extensive regulatory standards and requirements at national, regional and local level. Wherever industrial processes at our sites alter the quality of the water used – e.g. surface treatment plants (epoxy coating) and component cleaning systems – we operate internal wastewater treatment plants, which clean up and remove any toxins from the wastewater before it is released into the municipal sewerage system and / or sewage treatment plants. We thereby ensure compliance with relevant local regulations, including the threshold values that must be met before industrial wastewater can be discharged. To verify that our wastewater discharge falls within these thresholds, we conduct internal and external analyses at the required intervals to test for parameters such as PH value, COD value, phosphorus and zinc. We also have company-wide alert systems in place at all our sites so that we can take immediate, structured and systematic action in the event of an environmental incident involving wastewater and the release of hazardous substances. ➔ GRI 303-1, GRI 303-2, GRI 303-4 Total water consumption and water discharge The total water consumption at all our sites amounted to 193,293 cubic metres in the reporting year, equating to a 4.1 % reduction compared with the previous year. A total of 75,646 cubic metres of water was processed by our wastewater treatment plants and discharged back into the municipal sewerage system as non-hazardous wastewater. This equates to 39.1 % of our total consumption. A large proportion of our water consumption (namely 117,647 cubic metres (60.9 %)) was coolant water that evaporated into the atmosphere during the cooling process. ➔ GRI 303-3, GRI 303-5 Much like grains of sand that together form a tower or drops of water that combine to create a river, many small, conscious decisions can have a big impact in business. Be it saving paper or optimising logistics, every measure we take contributes to sustainable development. Xuebin Zhang, Sustainability Management, Blum China Total water consumption and water discharge in m³ 2023 / 2024 2024 / 2025 Total water from third parties 201,480 193,293 Water discharge 77,460 75,646 46 © Copyright by Blum
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