Unilever Bangladesh has announced that it has met its ambitious target to halve its consumption of water, from 5,400 liters per ton of production to 2,750 liters per ton of production, six years ahead of schedule.

The company has saved 650 million liters of water from its manufacturing plant at Kalurghat, Chittagong since 2008, enough to meet the drinking water requirements of the entire population for two days.

The manufacturer of Lifebuoy soap achieved its goal by firstly reevalutaing its existing manufacturing process, then designing dedicated water efficiency programs. Investment in rain-water harvesting and an effluent treatment plant, which allows Unilever to reuse water from the manufacturing process, saw water consumption drop to the desired level.

“Our desire is to pass on the philosophy with which we make our products to the users of these products,” explained Aminur Rahman, Supply Chain Director at Unilever Bangladesh in an interview with the Dhaka Tribune. “If we could all be a little more diligent in the way we use water, there would not be a water crisis across the country or the world.

“Even though we have reached our target, we will continue innovating and continue giving back water to the community, by using less and less of it in our manufacturing process.”

The company’s next project will be to harvest the rain water from land adjacent to the plant, thereby making the FMCG manufacturer less reliant on ground water, freeing up mains supply for the local population.