Nestlé Waters & Premium Beverages' Water Stewardship Win

Nestlé Waters & Premium Beverages (NW&PB) has become the first food and beverage company in the world to achieve 100% certification across all 39 bottling sites under the Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS) Standard.

Two of these locations - Buxton in the UK and Tunuyán in Argentina – have reached the coveted Platinum level, highlighting the company’s leadership in responsible water management.

“We are pleased to share these significant milestones today on AWS certification and water regeneration,” says Muriel Lienau, CEO of Nestlé Waters & Premium Beverages.

“Good water stewardship is part of our DNA and strong water resilience is a strategic imperative for our business – that’s why we look to collaborate everywhere we operate to ensure we address any shared water challenges, now and for the future. This is something we’ve been working on for decades.

“We remain committed to protect, restore and return water where we operate. Water resilience has a growing awareness on the international agenda and we know no one can achieve this on their own.

"By partnering with experts, local organisations and communities we know that collaboration at catchment level is the key for meaningful impact.”

The AWS Standard sets a rigorous, independent framework for responsible water use and community collaboration. By embedding it across its global operations, Nestlé is building a model for collective water resilience that supports people, nature and long-term business sustainability.

Regeneration projects driving measurable results

Certification is only part of the story. Nestlé Waters is backing its AWS achievement with real-world impact through 70 water regeneration projects worldwide.

Developed with local stakeholders, these initiatives aim to restore and return more water than the company uses. Using the World Resources Institute’s Volumetric Water Benefit Accounting method, Nestlé measures outcomes at each location and expects to regenerate 14.1 million cubic metres of water annually by the end of 2025 – ultimately surpassing its operational footprint as projects mature.

“In an era of increasing resource volatility, where individuals and organisations are passionate about making a difference but don’t always know how, a global independent standard that includes an accessible, independent and practical framework for water stewardship and landscape protection is essential,” says Adrian Sym, Chief Executive of the Alliance for Water Stewardship.

“Nestlé Waters & Premium Beverages’ approach to collaborative, localised, context-based solutions, tailored to each bottling site, is exemplary. It’s fantastic to see a large global company approaching this bottom-up all over the world, rather than top-down or by taking a mass rebalance approach to offset water usage.

“In fact, NW&PB has provided invaluable learnings for driving scaled impact and is an important ally in helping us deliver on our mission to ignite and nurture water stewardship globally.”

Spotlight on France and Italy

Investment in water‑positive initiatives across key markets continues to accelerate.

In France, the €25m (US$28.7m) Agrivair Garrigue project safeguards water resources for the Gard region – home of Perrier – through biodiversity enhancement, sustainable agriculture and catchment restoration.

In Italy, the F.O.N.T.E. programme (Future, Origin, Nature, Territories, Ecosystems) extends a five‑year, €30m (US$34.5m) investment by an additional €40m (US$46m) through 2030, focusing on the protection of vital water basins for brands such as S.Pellegrino, Acqua Panna and Levissima.

Partnering for collective impact

Recognising that water challenges require cross-sector collaboration, Nestlé Waters & Premium Beverages is strengthening its partnership with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Building on three years of joint work, IUCN will continue offering scientific guidance to ensure future projects align with its Global Standard for Nature‑based Solutions.

“Integrated action and decision-making on water, biodiversity and climate is essential for long-term business resilience,” says James Dalton, Global Director for Water and Wetlands at IUCN.

“NW&PB’s water stewardship journey is a testament to this. As IUCN and NW&PB pivot towards this new phase of engagement, we will place emphasis on consolidating and expanding the positive impact of existing water regeneration projects on nature and driving collective action to protect and restore freshwater ecosystems in strategic catchments.”

By combining certification, regeneration, investment and partnerships, Nestlé Waters & Premium Beverages is establishing a new benchmark for global water stewardship – one that reflects a holistic, watershed-level vision of sustainability rarely achieved in the food and beverage sector.