2024-2029 MANIFESTO

FOR THE EUROPEAN NATURAL MINERAL WATER SECTOR

2024-2029 MANIFESTO
FOR THE EUROPEAN NATURAL MINERAL WATER SECTOR

The 2024-2029 Manifesto for the European natural mineral water and spring water sector outlines our ambitious vision for the future, rooted in sustainability, innovation, and economic resilience.

Our sector’s history of providing high-quality products to European citizens stands alongside our track record of protecting catchment areas and supporting rural economies. As we look forward to the next five years, we emphasise the critical importance of safeguarding natural water resources, fostering biodiversity and ensuring long-term sustainability, while pursuing a strong industrial policy which protects SMEs and promotes economic resilience.

In this respect, our sector’s manifesto serves as a guide for policymakers, stakeholders, and industry partners, highlighting our priorities and recommendations for a sustainable and thriving European market.

Download the Manifesto

Envisioning a Sustainable Future:

OUR 5 PRIORITIES

1. Water

A foundation for healthier citizens

Adequate hydration, from all sources, helps to maintain good physical and cognitive performance. It also helps towards the prevention of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), such as type 2 diabetes and kidney stones. And yet, studies show that Europeans are not adequately hydrated, particularly vulnerable groups, such as children, the elderly and pregnant women.

Water is the healthiest and most natural way to hydrate, free from calories and additives. Improved hydration and drinking habits can make a significant contribution to healthier diets and may help counteract the obesity crisis which is currently challenging European health systems. Interventions to improve adequate and healthy hydration are both inexpensive and effective. Just a few glasses of water a day can make a significant difference to a person’s health.

Our recommendations for healthy hydration

In addition to securing citizens access to safe and high-quality water, actions should be taken at EU level to:

Give water a prominent focus in policy instruments aimed at tackling the obesity crisis and preventing NCDs, recognising the role healthy hydration can play in achieving both of these aims
Educate citizens on the importance of staying well-hydrated for maintaining good physical and mental performance and health
Encourage water consumption and adequate hydration in EU health campaigns and dietary advice, from all sources

2. Healthy water cycles

Safeguarding water for future generations

Water is a key resource for nature, human subsistence, and a thriving economy alike. However, climate change and pollution are exerting pressure on the quantity and quality of available water. Most regions of Europe are at risk of being affected by water shortages or flooding in the years to come.

Therefore, sustainable groundwater management is crucial to guarantee the balance of natural water sources and protect them for future generations. This is a top priority for natural mineral water and spring water producers, who have a long history, in partnership with local stakeholders, of safeguarding catchment areas through which water flows to reach natural sources.

In the face of human activity and climate change, our sector iscontinuously gathering knowledge and expanding our understanding of the watersheds we depend on, abstracting water while respecting the local hydrogeological context.

Our recommendations for safeguarding water cycles

New water-related policies should:

Pursue a multi-stakeholder, collaborative approach to groundwater protection and policy instruments aimed at increasing water resilience
Take into account the essential function of high quality water as a source of hydration in the context of water management

3. Biodiversity

A measure of natural health

Preserving nature is essential for all of us to thrive, and biodiversity is a critical underpinning of this task. It must therefore be protected, and its decline reversed. Biodiversity and healthy water cycles are mutually reinforcing, so preserving the two go hand-in-hand.
Our members carry out pioneering work to protect and promote biodiversity where they operate. Healthy native habitats are essential to long-term soil health which supports ground filtration, and proactive measures to safeguard soil health and floral and faunal biodiversity are commonplace across our sector.

As part of our commitments under the EU Code of Conduct, we have been working together with third-party experts, including a leading international conservation organisation, to develop effective conservation strategies and monitoring frameworks. This will enable our sector to monitor our impact on biodiversity through specific indicators and ensure we take meaningful measures to preserve it, and our sources, for generations to come.

Our recommendations for promoting biodiversity

EU-level initiatives on biodiversity must:

Catalyse multi-stakeholder collaboration
Provide the practical tools businesses require to step up their actions, with particular emphasis on SMEs

4. Resource efficiency

Better for the environment and the economy

Using resources in a more efficient manner is among the prerequisites to solve the triple planetary crisis of climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss. A thriving, resource-efficient market is not only better for the environment, it also keeps valuable resources in the European economy.

We have made great strides in improving the efficiency of our sector in all aspects of our operations, from lowering our water use ratio, to significantly reducing the use of virgin PET in packaging, to reporting on and reducing our sector’s carbon emissions. Through continuous improvement initiatives, we are continuing to enhance our efficiency wherever we can.
For meaningful change to take effect, SMEs must be on board for the journey, as they represent the vast majority of our membership and of the food sector as a whole.

Our recommendations for better resource efficiency

Upcoming EU initiatives in this field should:

Promote circular over linear solutions, where environmentally beneficial
Encourage investments and support Member States in building the required infrastructure to boost separate collection and high-quality recycling
Base policy proposals on sound scientific evidence which support their intended impact
Provide the necessary tools to SMEs to facilitate their transition to more resource-efficient models

5. Consumer information

Empowering better choices

Industry and consumers both have a role to play towards meeting the objectives of the Green Deal. Through their everyday choices and purchases, consumers can help Europe meet its decarbonization ambitions and support industry’s efforts to propose more sustainable products and services. They can also encourage the offer of healthier foods and beverages and help reduce food waste.

Our sector places great importance on clear and transparent communication to the consumer. Under EU legislation, all natural mineral water and spring water labels come with detailed information on the mineral composition, the location of the source and, where applicable, specific health benefits. Ours was one of the pioneering sectors in developing the EU Product Environmental Footprint Category Rules (PEFCR), to help guide our producers’ communication on the footprint of their products in a harmonised and credible way.

Our recommendations for consumer information

The EU should aim to:

Foster an information environment which empowers consumers to make more sustainable choices
Provide an enabling and rewarding framework for businesses to communicate about the steps they are taking to make their products more environmentally friendly

OUR SECTOR AT A GLANCE

2082

NATURAL MINERAL WATER SOURCES

>500

PRODUCERS

121

LITRES CONSUMED PER CAPITA

DRIVING SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIC GROWTH IN A THRIVING EU MARKET

There is a growing need to strengthen the EU’s industrial policy framework to promote innovation, competitiveness and growth. Businesses need equal access to a fair, open market, consistent regulations, and a long-term vision for planning and investment.

New legislative requirements can be particularly burdensome for SMEs. Our sector is heavily represented by small producers which are very often located in remote areas, making them crucial contributors to rural employment and social cohesion.

In our 2024-2029 Manifesto, we advocate for a revitalised European industrial policy which:

supports growth, for SMEs as well as large businesses
preserves and further develops the Single Market
is based on sound scientific and economic data
provides consistency and long-term legal certainty

Together, we can continue to build a healthier and more sustainable
future. Join us in our commitment to preserving the environment,
supporting local communities, and promoting healthy hydration for all.

Download the Manifesto

Details	Nestlé Waters Switzerland launched the ECO-Broye programme around the sources of Henniez in 2009, working closely with local partners such as farmers, foresters, businesses and authorities in order to preserve the natural quality of the groundwater. In a region with intensive farming, sustainable agriculture using zero pesticides and chemical fertilisers has been implemented on 120 hectares in the immediate catchment area. Over a 2,400 hectares in the wider surroundings, Nestlé Waters promotes biodiversity with ecological networks and fauna corridors. In 2016, a biogas plant (run by a partner company) was installed that converts 30,000 tonnes of manure from 25 surrounding farms, together with coffee grounds collected from Nespresso capsule recycling, into renewable energy. This supplies 1,500 households with electricity, and part of the generated heat is used by the adjacent Henniez bottling plant. In return, the farmers receive a highly efficient fertilizer and over 3,000 tonnes of CO2 eq. are avoided. In 2021, the AgrEauConseil programme was launched, to work with local farmers to reduce their use of pesticides, providing advice and support around methods of regenerative agriculture (cover crops, no ploughing, mechanical vs. chemical treatment, etc.).
Brand	Henniez
Company	Nestlé Waters
Area covered (km2)	25.2
Date initiated	2009
Date of completion	Ongoing
Web link	‚Henniez