Water

Every day in the UK, businesses use over 19 billion litres of tap water. That is equivalent to 7,600 million Olympic swimming pools!  Water is a precious natural resource and it is important to use it in a sustainable manner in order to meet current and future demand.

Today, our water is under threat due to drought from the effects of climate change, rising global populations, industrialization and pollution, so it is important to use it wisely. Every drop counts!

In the last year, Whitbread used over 3.7 million cubic metres of water. The areas where we use most water are:

• Preparation of the food and drink served in our restaurants and coffee shops

• Hotel bedrooms

• Washroom facilities

Whitbread considers water management as a strategic issue. We look for innovative opportunities to reduce our water footprint through monitoring and measurement as well as use of water efficient products that meet our customer needs.

What are we doing to use less water?

• Finding and fixing water leaks
• Installing dual flush toilets
• Installing aerated shower heads
• Buying more environmentally friendly dishwashers
• Installing grey water systems

Our commitment

We will reduce our water consumption by a relative 15% across our portfolio against a 2009 water footprint baseline.

Our approach

See a summary of our water strategy framework (PDF, 119 kB).

Our progress

In the last year we reduced the amount of water we used by 5% relative to sales.

Read our full Environmental report (PDF, 5.5 MB).