Water

NORMA Group’s products provide effective water management solutions

The United Nations estimates that demand for water will increase by 40 % by 2050. According to current calculations, one in four people will then be living in a country with water scarcity. UNITED NATIONS NORMA Group recognized this megatrend at an early stage and has made establishing a global position in water management a strategic priority. Most predominantly, NORMA Group’s water management product offering includes drip irrigation systems that reduce water consumption by up to 60% compared to sprinklers and hand watering, as well as stormwater management solutions that protect properties from water damage and increasingly ensure that stormwater is managed sustainably.

NORMA Group’s water management business is managed in its global ‘Water Management’ organization. It currently comprises NORMA Group’s US subsidiary NDS in the Americas and growing organizations in the EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions. All regions maintain a constant and intensive exchange.

In 2020, NORMA Group hired a president for the global Water Management organization with significant experience in the water industry. The strategy and organization for water management were further refined.

Despite the challenges in 2021, NORMA Group’s Water Management organization benefitted from continuous investments in e-commerce infrastructure, as the Company saw a COVID-19-driven acceleration of online purchasing activity around the globe. To further expand this trend, NORMA Group is investing significantly in its digital capabilities and content.

Reduction of water consumption in production

A total of 19% of the world’s water consumption is attributable to the production processes of industry alone. FAO With its worldwide presence, NORMA Group is also represented in regions with a medium to high risk of water scarcity (according to the AQUEDUCT methodology). Against this backdrop, NORMA Group also has a special responsibility to handle this resource carefully in its own production.

For years, NORMA Group has been working to continuously reduce the use of water in its own production processes. In its environmental strategy, NORMA Group addresses both the water consumption at its manufacturing sites and along the value chain. For its own sites, NORMA Group has set a target of a 1.0 % efficiency increase for 2022. CR TARGETS

NORMA Group focuses on its manufacturing sites as a framework for data collection and targets because water consumption at its administrative and distribution sites plays only a minor role due to significantly lower consumption levels. The control of water consumption follows the structure and responsibilities of the ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

NORMA Group’s water is mainly sourced from municipal water supplies or other public or private water utilities and – at some locations – from ground and surface water. It is used to a large extent for cooling processes within production. In 2021, the water consumption of NORMA Group’s production totaled 160,586 cubic meters. This translates into an 8.9 % increase in water consumption (2020 revised: 147,425 cubic meters). The increase can be attributed primarily to a rise in production capacity. Specific water consumption sank by 5.0 % to 147.1 liters per EUR thousand of revenues (2020 revised: 154.8 liters).

The implementation of ISO 14001 at NORMA Group also covers the handling of wastewater. The vast majority of wastewater at NORMA Group sites is discharged to municipal wastewater systems or local sewage treatment plants.