Taking collective action will build on 3M’s work to improve the environment, reduce water use, and improve water quality.

3M announced we are joining the Water Resilience Coalition (WRC) today, taking one more step forward in our ongoing commitment to help the nearly two billion people worldwide living in water-stressed and water-scarce communities.

“3M is proactively applying our science and innovation to improve the water supply used in our operations and the communities we serve,” said Mike Roman, 3M CEO. “We are committed to sharing our expertise on global water solutions, and our participation in the WRC will expand and amplify our efforts.” 

By joining the WRC leadership committee and endorsing the United Nations Global Compact’s CEO Water Mandate, 3M will be working to preserve the world’s freshwater resources and achieve a net positive water impact. We will also be better positioned to advance our ongoing work to improve the environment and build a brighter future around the world.  

“3M’s expertise in science and creative solutions finds a significant space of opportunity in the CEO Water Mandate,” said Jason Morrison, president of the Pacific Institute and Head of the CEO Water Mandate. “Additionally, by being a part of the leadership committee of the Water Resilience Coalition they also join a leading platform on water for businesses that are elevating their ambition and accelerating results through collective action on water.” 

3M’s thoughtful approach to science and innovation has driven success for more than 100 years, and we will apply this same methodology to our collaborative work with fellow members.  

Supporting communities with water challenges 
In 2020, 3M’s annual evaluation identified 16 facilities in extremely high water-stressed/scarce global locations, including locations in France, India, Mexico, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, and the United States. After the assessment, work began to understand current baselines and onboarding for those new sites, continuing into the first half of 2021. For example, we began working with the Juarez (Mexico) City Water Department in 2016 to receive treated wastewater for on-site services. In 2017, 80% of total water consumed in three out of five buildings was treated or recycled water and in 2020, the site transitioned the remaining two buildings. We expect to save 10 million liters (2.6 million gallons) of water. 

Since 2015, we have had a goal to engage 100% of water-stressed/scarce communities where we manufacture on community-wide approaches to water management. Each site located in a water-stressed area is required to understand its water use, and associated business risks and impacts, and must work with local water resources to understand potential impacts on the surrounding area. Those sites are also asked to do water conservation planning, outlining current and future water conservation efforts.  

Reducing water use in manufacturing operations 
We are also taking steps to reduce water use and improve water quality through installation of technologies at key manufacturing sites worldwide. For example, 3M Decatur in Alabama has installed a non-contact cooling water system that connects the plant’s incoming water infrastructure to local utilities. This reduces the amount of water the plant uses from the Tennessee River by more than 95% and deepens the facility’s connection with the community where its people live and work.  

The work in Decatur will advance our February 2021 commitment to reduce our water use 25% by 2030, with interim goals of 20% by 2025 and 10% by 2022—accelerating a prior goal to achieve a 10% reduction by 2025 (indexed to sales). To help identify solutions and potential barriers for water reduction, you can record and track observations within a global pollution prevention system that is accessible by engineers, developers, and managers. This broad visibility provides a deeper understanding of water use and facilitates collaboration on solutions from across the company.  

As a result of ongoing water reduction efforts, our total consumption decreased 39.8% between 2005 and 2020 (indexed to sales).   

Improving the quality of water returned to the environment 
3M plans to invest $1 billion over the next 20 years to achieve its environmental goals, including a commitment to install state-of-the-art water purification technology at its largest water-using facilities by the end of 2023 and be fully operational by the end of 2024. These funds build on 3M’s allocation of approximately $55 million for capital projects for environmental purposes in 2020, which include waste reduction and pollution control programs, such as water usage reduction and water quality improvement equipment, scrubbers, containment structures, solvent recovery units, and thermal oxidizers.  

Beyond investing in remediation, installation of appropriate treatment technologies, and testing water sources, we are committed to applying our scientific and innovative approach to advancing technologies in this field. We will continue to collaborate with communities who have questions about the quality of their water and work to determine whether we are able to provide solutions.