3M has announced it is joining the Water Resilience Coalition (WRC), which brings together some of the largest companies in the world to help preserve the world's freshwater resources. Led by CEO Water Mandate, an initiative of the UN Global Compact, coalition members commit to having a positive impact in water-stressed basins, to develop and implement resilient practices across their industry, and to provide leadership and advocacy in the field of water resilience. St. Paul, Minnesota-based 3M operates in the promotional products market through its 3M Promotional Markets Dept. (PPAI 113638, S11).

"3M is proactively applying our science and innovation to improve the water supply used in our operations and the communities we serve," says Mike Roman, 3M CEO. "We are committed to sharing our expertise on global water solutions, and our participation in the WRC will expand and amplify our efforts."

By joining the WRC leadership committee and endorsing the United Nations Global Compact's CEO Water Mandate, 3M notes that it will be better positioned to advance its ongoing work to improve the environment and build a brighter future around the world.

"3M's expertise in science and creative solutions finds a significant space of opportunity in the CEO Water Mandate," says Jason Morrison, president of the Pacific Institute and head of the CEO Water Mandate. "Additionally, by being a part of the leadership committee of the Water Resilience Coalition they also join a leading platform on water for businesses that are elevating their ambition and accelerating results through collective action on water."

In 2020, 3M's annual evaluation identified 16 facilities in extremely high water-stressed/scarce global locations, including locations in France, India, Mexico, Spain, Thailand, Turkey and the United States. After the assessment, work began to understand current baselines and onboarding for those new sites, continuing into the first half of 2021. For example, the company began working with the Juarez, Mexico, city water department in 2016 to receive treated wastewater for on-site services. In 2017, 80 percent of total water consumed in three out of five buildings was treated or recycled water and in 2020, the site transitioned the remaining two buildings. It expects to save 10 million liters—2.6 million gallons—of water.

Since 2015, 3M has had a goal to engage 100 percent of water-stressed/scarce communities where it manufactures on community-wide approaches to water management. Each 3M site located in a water-stressed area is required to understand its water use, and associated business risks and impacts, and must work with local water resources to understand potential impacts on the surrounding area. Those sites are also asked to do water conservation planning, outlining current and future water conservation efforts.

3M is also taking steps to reduce water use and improve water quality through installation of technologies at key manufacturing sites worldwide. For example, 3M Decatur in Alabama has installed a non-contact cooling water system that connects the plant's incoming water infrastructure to local utilities. This reduces the amount of water the plant uses from the Tennessee River by more than 95 percent and deepens the facility's connection with the community where its people live and work.

The company reports that the work in Decatur will advance its February 2021 commitment to reduce its water use by 25 percent by 2030, with interim goals of 20 percent by 2025 and 10 percent by 2022—accelerating a prior goal to achieve a 10-percent reduction by 2025. To help identify solutions and potential barriers for water reduction, 3M employees can record and track observations within a global pollution prevention system that is accessible by engineers, developers and managers. As a result of ongoing water reduction efforts, 3M's total consumption decreased 39.8 percent between 2005 and 2020.

3M plans to invest $1 billion over the next 20 years to achieve its environmental goals, including a commitment to install state-of-the-art water purification technology at its largest water-using facilities by the end of 2023 and be fully operational by the end of 2024. These funds build on 3M's allocation of approximately $55 million for capital projects for environmental purposes in 2020, which include waste reduction and pollution control programs, such as water usage reduction and water quality improvement equipment, scrubbers, containment structures, solvent recovery units and thermal oxidizers.