1 smartphone = 13 tonnes of water

13 TONNES OF WATER TO MAKE ONE SMART PHONE - NEW REPORT HIGHLIGHTS HUGE ECO-IMPACT OF EVERYDAY PRODUCTS

A new report

 from Friends of the Earth estimates for the first time how much land and water well-known brands such as Apple, Kraft and Gap use in a year, and what’s needed to manufacture some of the products they sell.

Based on modelling by environmental data experts Trucost, the ‘Mind your step’ report examines the land and water ‘footprints’ of a range of diverse products including smartphones, leather boots, coffee, chicken curry ready-meals, t-shirts, and milk chocolate.

Trucost’s calculations also indicate the extent to which often controversial stages in the manufacture of these products - such as mining for metals and minerals, and water pollution from electronics assembly factories - contribute to these water and land footprints.

'Mind your step’s' findings reveal:

• Nearly 13 tonnes of water and 18 square metres of land are required to make a smartphone, with two fifths of the water impact due to pollution at the component manufacturing and assembly phases;

• A pair of leather boots requires 14.5 tonnes of water. However, where leather tanneries dump untreated chemicals into the environment – as is common in tanning districts such as the Hazaribargh region of Dhaka, Bangladesh – this figure rises to 25 tonnes;

• Over one year Kraft is estimated to have required an area of land the size of Belgium just to make its range of chocolate products.

'Mind your step' reveals which stages in a product’s manufacture require the most land and water, and gives a striking indication of how much individual companies and whole sectors depend on these precious resources to maintain their operations.

Writing in relation to the report, former European Environment Commissioner Janez Potocnik said:

“The estimates provided in the Mind your step report are extremely useful reminders of how heavily we currently tread on the world. More than that, in a world of fragile economies and environments, they are signposts to how we can tread more lightly, while continuing to grow our economies and improve the wellbeing of our citizens.”

Friends of the Earth’s resource use campaigner Julian Kirby said:

“The snug fit of that phone in your pocket or the crumpled heap of boots in the corner masks the breathtaking amounts of land and water required to make our favourite products.

“In an increasingly populous and environmentally stressed world, it’s more important than ever that companies measure their resource use – for their own sakes as well as the environment’s.

“The good news is that armed with land and water footprint information, companies can redesign their products and business models, to save cash and tread more lightly on the Earth.”

Friends of the Earth is calling for the new Government to commit the Treasury to reviewing the economic and environmental implications of the UK’s dependence on natural resources, and set up an Office of Resource Management to ensure the findings translate into policies for resource efficiency across the economy.

ENDS

Notes :

1. The ‘Mind your step’ report is available for download.

2. Trucost estimated how much land and water is required to make products and to sustain business operations, based on 2011/12 sales data, product lifecycle reports and Trucost’s Environmental Input-Output model. More information on Trucost’s model and methods can be found here. 

3. The land and water footprints reflect generic, rather than company-specific, products.

4. Friends of the Earth is calling for legislation requiring all large companies to report on their use of natural resources, including land, water and materials and their carbon emissions.

5. Friends of the Earth is also calling on the Treasury to conduct a ‘Stern for Resources’ review of the economic and environmental implications of the UK’s dependence on natural resources. An Office of Resource Management should then translate the findings into policies for resource efficiency across the economy. The 2006 ‘Stern report’ into the economics of climate change set the stage for UK and international action on climate change. More information on the Office for Resource Management here.

6. In March 2013 Friends of the Earth’s Freedom of Information request revealed that the Treasury had at the eleventh hour blocked a cross-Whitehall review by departmental Chief Economists into the impacts of climate change and resource availability on the British economy. Since then numerous business and investor groups have joined Friends of the Earth in calling for this ‘Stern for Resources’ review to be reinstated and for an Office of Resource Management to be set up. More information here. 

7. For more than 40 years we’ve seen that the wellbeing of people and planet go hand in hand – and it’s been the inspiration for our campaigns. Together with thousands of people like you we’ve secured safer food and water, defended wildlife and natural habitats, championed the move to clean energy and acted to keep our climate stable. Be a Friend of the Earth – see things differently. For further information visitwww.foe.co.uk, follow us at @wwwfoecouk, or like our Facebook page.

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