World Water Day today: PTC playing active role in managing water footprint: CEO

ISLAMABAD: The World Water Day 2023 will be observed on Wednesday (today) to highlight need for equitable distribution and use of water in the country.

Talking to Business Recorder here on Tuesday, Ali Akbar, the MD and CEO of Pakistan Tobacco Company Limited (PTC), said that his company has been playing an active role in managing its water footprint.

“We work hand-in-hand with more than 10,000 contracted farmers to continuously reduce their water usage as well as educate and raise awareness on best industry practices. We have deployed multiple drip-irrigation units, which have helped save upwards of 241 million litres of water.

Our most recent achievement is that of our factory in Akora Khattak, which became the first integrated site in the BAT Group to earn the prestigious Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS) Core Certification,” he said.

“This is a globally applicable framework that helps water users understand their water consumption and impact. We are also expecting our manufacturing facility in Jhelum to receive this certification in 2023, which will make PTC the first multi-site entity to earn this award across all countries in Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, and Africa area,” he added.

Furthermore, PTC is deploying new strategies to recycle the water that it uses throughout its value chain. This year PTC recycled more than 40 percent of the water used in its operations that helped save enough water for more than 360,000 people to use annually.

The company is also maintaining an extensive network of water filtration plants across Pakistan, where there is a high incidence of waterborne diseases. Collectively, these plants provide more than 500,000 litres of clean drinking water every day for the communities to use benefiting millions, he said.

The efforts that PTC makes, however, are futile if across-the-board implementation of water-saving measures are not adhered to. Progress on all significant global issues is undermined due to the disruption of the water cycle.

As per the United Nations, the world is still off-track to meet the 2030 goal. The latest data show that globally governments must work on average four times faster to meet SDG 6 on time. This is not a situation that any single actor or group can solve, the MD and CEO PTC said.

Ali Akbar added that investing in water infrastructure and supporting water conservation initiatives are strategies that can ensure the issues that are faced can be worked upon.

The actions and decisions that we make today will be judged ten years from now. Henceforth, corporations must function as change agents and play a crucial role in promoting climate justice in their operations, policies, and practices, Ali Akbar added.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023