BUSINESS: 327 PRACTICES
Papastratos, in 2017 turned the page in its long history and, with a significant €300-million investment, transformed its factory in Aspropyrgos into an exclusive heated tobacco sticks production unit for IQOS.
Responsible water management is one of the most important sustainable development issues for PAPASTRATOS, as water is used in our production facilities, our agricultural supply chain, and the production of raw materials and supplies.
We recognize and assess risks from potential pollution and water scarcity and their effects on watersheds associated with our business operations and supply chain. For this reason, we are committed to using water more efficiently with the aim of minimizing the amount of water used per production unit (millions of heated tobacco sticks), and continuously reducing the negative impacts on the communities where we operate.
Workers, supply chain, suppliers, local communities in the Triassius Pedi catchment
The implementation of the program started in 2019 and within 2020 the AWS certification was achieved. Proper management, improvement and monitoring of water management is continuous with the aim of reducing consumption and integrated management.
In 2019, PAPASTRATOS began its quest for certification according to the "Alliance for Water Stewardship-AWS" standard. AWS is an international standard for water management that aims to make water use socially just, environmentally sustainable and economically beneficial. Something that is achieved through the undertaking of actions both in the factory area and in the wider area outside the factory fence, always in cooperation with interested parties such as the local community, neighboring municipalities, water supply and drainage providers, the relevant ministries and others companies operating The effort was crowned with success in 2020.
WATER MANAGEMENT WITHIN THE FACTORY
In this context, the company has developed and implements in the Aspropyrgos Unit an Environmental Management System, which has been certified according to ISO 14001. The System includes, among other things, the management of water resources.
PAPASTRATOS uses the water consumption index (cubic meters of water per million heated tobacco rods produced) to determine the company's quantitative target.
The company's global expertise is used to implement continuous improvement methods in the production process (lean manufacturing) that have been implemented in other factories of the PMI network. The continuous development of individual processes combined with more efficient smoke management contribute to the reduction of smoke losses with a corresponding reduction in water consumption per unit of produced product.
Investments in smart meter systems, which start from the factory infrastructure and will gradually reach deep within the machines themselves, allow the design of targeted actions to reduce consumption. The supporting systems (industrial cooling, steam production system) are strengthened with savings projects by applying upgraded automatic control solutions, also contributing to the reduction of consumption.
The General Director of Operations of PAPASTRATOS is responsible for the proper management of water resources, while compliance with water-related legislation and permits is monitored by the Director of Projects & Technical Support and the Director of Environment, Health & Safety. Specifically for compliance with the AWS standard, a team of representatives from the Projects & Technical Support, Environment, Health & Safety, Production, External Affairs, Communications & Sustainability departments has been established.
WATER REUSE
In accordance with the requirements of the AWS standard, PAPASTRATOS proceeds with the proper management of water-related issues beyond its Unit, in a wider area that may be affected by its operations, that of the Triasio Field watershed. In an effort to understand the problems of the local watershed, PAPASTRATOS engaged in an open dialogue with the local community and stakeholders in order to address common challenges.
PAPASTRATOS seeks to optimize the use of water, both by using it more efficiently in its factory, but also by reusing it: as almost 30% of water consumption occurs during the tobacco processing process, then all water waste is sent to the two biological purification units for the tertiary treatment of its liquid urban and industrial waste, where after treatment, a quantity is reused for irrigation of the surrounding area and the rest is available underground in the Triassios Pedi aquifer (see initiative results).
PAPASTRATOS has drawn up a Water Stewardship Plan based on the five main pillars of AWS interest:
PUBLICATION OF INFORMATION
As a result of its public commitment to the correct use of water resources, the company undertakes to:
Parent company Philip Morris International publishes reports on water use to the Non-Profit Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP). For the year 2019 and the year 2020, in the category "CDP Water Security" it achieved an "A" rating.
-In 2019, total water consumption was approximately at the same levels as in 2018, while consumption per million rods decreased by more than 50% as a result of the improvement of the production process.
-In 2020, thanks to interventions in the production process, a further improvement of 11% in water consumption per million heated tobacco sticks was achieved.
The company's factory in Aspropyrgos, and the wider catchment area of the Thriasios Pedi.
Alliance for Water Stewardship
Based on the governance of issues related to Water Management, all employees involved in the production process follow the rules and priorities set by the company.
Also, in 2021, on World Water Day, the company prepared an educational kit which it distributed to all employees regarding the proper management of water, at a personal and domestic level.
