Feasibility study for the food processing industry in Flanders (Belgium) to become water neutral by 2030.

Although calculating the water footprint of a product, organization or a sector contributes to assessing and understanding the pressure on water resources, it does not provide any information on how to reduce the water use or its impact on the environment. The objective of this paper is to present a methodology for feasibility studies on water neutrality for the food processing industry in Flanders (Belgium). In 2010 a total amount of ca. 46 10 6 m 3 water was used in the Flemish food processing industry of which 68% consisted of ground water. Based on a mass balance of water, scientific data, the Flemish Input Output model and a participative process with stakeholders, an overall concept of water neutrality in the Flemish food processing industry was developed. The method consists of three steps. - defining the concept of water neutrality in the context of the Flemish food processing industry; - defining measures for reducing the impact of the Flemish food processing industry on their water use and determine the reduction potential for those measures, taking into account the implementing risks; - translating the measures into a roadmap for the next twenty years and verifying if the measures are sufficient to turn over the actual Flemish food industry into a water neutral one. By defining and applying the water neutrality concept in this feasibility study for the Flemish food processing industry, it can be concluded that it will be hard for the industry to become water neutral by 2030, but the developed roadmap shows how the industry can become more sustainable by 2030 and take significant steps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]