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Unique way of purifying water at Fujifilm Tilburg together with four neighbour companies

Sustainability is a key subject for Fujifilm in Tilburg. Therefore, let us tell you a story about clean water on today’s World Water Day.

At Fujifilm in Tilburg the Netherlands, we make use of a collective company water treatment. In this water purification installation Fujifilm purifies water on the site, together with three neighbour companies, Coca-Cola European Partners Nederland B.V, International Flavors and Fragrances (IFF Nederland), Agristo. This water purification installation was the first of its kind in the Netherlands: the water purification plant is located on Fujifilm’s premises, it is over 3,000 square metres in size and can purify 10 million litres of process water a day. The companies are connected to the water treatment plant by over 8 kilometres of pipes. Each type of process water runs through its own pipe, so that the chemical composition of the process water can be taken into account.

The water purification takes place by means of biological cleaning through a membrane filter, also called Membrane Bio Reactor (MBR). This technique is well known, but this was one of the largest industrial MBR installations of its kind, and it is unique in the Netherlands.

Alex van Rijn, Manager Environment, Safety, Health & Sustainability at Fujifilm, explains: “The collective company water treatment plant is an initiative, started 10 years ago, by the four neighbour companies. Looking at composition, the combination of the waste water streams of these four companies fits well together to be able to process the waste water in a way that it can be cleaned and discharged in a safe and efficient way. The reason to start the project was that the wastewater plant of the local water board came to its limits and was not able to clean and discharge the future waste water streams of the four involved companies. Fujifilm needs the water for its processes: the products we make, for example photo paper, offset plates, membranes and cell culture media, are sensitive and need very clean water. One of the reasons for starting the factory in the 1980’s in Tilburg, is the presence of very clean well water. Next step in the project for the coming years is to make use of the purified waste water in a way it can be given back to nature and /or agriculture. This fits well in the situation in Noord-Brabant where we face increasing drought in the summers.” Currently, fulfilling all legal specifications, this water is drained to the Wilhelmina canal and in the end to the sea.

Sustainability is a key subject for Fujifilm Tilburg. In the area of sustainability, for the coming years the focus will be on Energy transition, working towards zero carbon production at Fujifilm Tilburg and focus on optimized use of well water by reducing the amount of well water that we use and by making optimal use of the waste water for nature / agriculture. Next to this, the electricity of the production process operates already on wind energy for 100%. Fujifilm generates energy with an afterburner and the waste streams of Fujifilm are recycled for 100%.

The basis of the purification system is the membrane bioreactor (MBR); this is a type of water treatment plant where a membrane filter separates sludge and water under pressure. The membrane consists of a polymer sheet with pores of 0.01-0.5 micrometre. The membrane sheet is in the form of a hollow fibre. The membrane bioreactor consists of a biological water purification unit and membrane filtration unit.
Fujifilm is working together with Coca-Cola European Partners Nederland B.V, International Flavors and Fragrances (IFF Nederland), Agristo and the province, the local waterboards and the local municipalities. The Company “New water Business” (NWB) is exploiting the waste water treatment plant for the four companies.

Clean-up alongside the river

Fortuna and Fujifilm are jointly cleaning up

Social Day 2019 – In fine weather Fortuna and Fujifilm employees are collecting garbage on the riverbanks of the Rhine. Photo: Fujifilm

Summer is coming to a close. During the season many in Düsseldorf used the inviting weather for outdoor activities and barbecues on the river Rhine. As a result, a lot of waste, such as charcoal or packaging, has been left on the popular river banks.

On 3 September, Fortuna and its partner, multi-technology company Fujifilm, organised their first collective Social Day to collect garbage on the left river bank for one day.

We are entering our second season as an official Fortuna partner, and are happy to once again cooperate closely with a club with such a high degree of social and local engagement. For that reason, I am very happy about today’s shared commitment. At Fujifilm, sustainable business practices go hand in hand with sustainable use of resources. We have, for example, been using 100 percent renewable energy to power our state-of-the-art production facility in Tilburg, the Netherlands since 2016

explains Peter Struik, Managing Director FUJIFILM Europe GmbH.

We are happy to commence our second season as partners with an event such as this. A mindful approach to the environment is an integral part of the culture at Fortuna Düsseldorf. The fact that Fujifilm and Fortuna employees alike participate in this event is a fantastic signal.

Christian Koke, Chief Marketing Officer at Fortuna Düsseldorf, welcomes this team spirit .

The Fujifilm Management, being very supportive of neighbourliness and community engagement, granted a few hours of paid leave to its employees participating in the event.

Today’s garbage collection event is our way to make a small contribution to the environment in our neighbourhood. At the same time, we place great value on the idea of community and cooperation, which is why I am very happy to witness this joint event with our colleagues from Fortuna.

Martin Stade, Head of Corporate Communications at Fujifilm Europe, is happy to participate alongside a lot of colleagues.

We are delighted, that our partnership with our partner Fujifilm has led to this Social Day. Over the years, we have been participating in a variety of events like this one, such as the ‘Düsseldorfer Dreck-weg-Tag’, to do our part in keeping our city clean. This Social Day in cooperation with Fujifilm once again documents our approach to social responsibility

says Paul Jäger, Director CSR at Fortuna Düsseldorf.

Team spirit is an important aspect of the Social Day, so Awista, a Fortuna partner as well, disposes of the collected garbage and furthermore supports the industrious participants by providing 10 garbage tongs.

The environmental office of the city of Düsseldorf is also due a thank you, as it is already doing a part in alleviating the strain put on the river banks during the busy summer season by, for example, providing around 200 bins along the river. It furthermore supports today’s Social Day by providing disposable gloves, garbage bags and another 10 tongs.

In the evening, Fortuna partner Holger Gronski, has invited everyone involved for a barbecue at his PreSchoolSports establishment in Heerdt to bring the day to a close.

Fujifilm production facility runs completely on wind energy

The production process of FUJIFILM Manufacturing in Tilburg, the Netherlands, producer of photo paper, offset plates and membranes, operates as from 1 January 2016 completely on wind energy. This was made known by Fujifilm and the energy company Eneco, who delivers the wind energy. Fujifilm requires for her operations approximately 100 gigawatt hours of electricity, comparable to the average energy use of 30,000 households. The green energy is produced via wind turbines in the Netherlands and Belgium.

More information here.

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