Abstract
A company can evaluate water impacts related to its
activities with the help of water footprint (WF),
allowing manufacturer to identify freshwater consumption
and degradation hotspots along the value chain. However,
WF does not directly consider the environmental or
process related risks caused by water use. This study
aims at providing a framework for more extensive and
complementary water assessments by connecting two
environmental tools, WF and water risk assessment.
Product system of a packaging board is used as a case
example. WF assessment is carried out in accordance with
the ISO 14046 Standard. Risk analysis focuses on the WF
hotspots by analysing the local environmental
circumstances and the main risks, their likelihood and
consequences. The results show that water stress
indicator is sensitive to input and output water
qualities. The significance of local environmental
circumstances (potential for droughts and shallow water
levels, upstream water storages) on the water-based risks
are highlighted in the results. The use of complementary
methods reveals opposing interests: the lowest WF results
of the studied scenarios include a risk for poor product
quality. The results offer valuable information to a
manufacturer on self-inflicted water impact and the role
of indirect water use, helping to integrate water risk
approach in the strategic planning.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 229-241 |
| Journal | Water Practice and Technology |
| Volume | 10 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2015 |
| MoE publication type | A1 Journal article-refereed |
Keywords
- freshwater use
- production plant
- risk assessment
- water footprint
- water impact
