Greenyard Fresh Belgium and Pidpa, a Belgian integrated water utilities company, have entered the final phase of their plans to install a new on-site water purification system on Greenyard’s site in Sint-Katelijne-Waver. The installation has an innovative biological treatment method, which will reduce Greenyard Fresh Belgium’s annual intake of fresh water for cleaning and rinsing fruit and vegetables by 75%.

The processing water will be purified and recuperated via the installation. Combined with the existing on-site ground water extraction, the site will no longer be using city water for its operations unless necessary. This investment will allow Greenyard to further improve its environmental performance and to reduce costs.

“Smart water use plays an important role to further improve our environmental performance and reduce costs. At Greenyard, we constantly take initiatives to improve our operations, making sustainability an integral part of everything we do.” says Yannick Peeters, Managing Director at Greenyard Fresh Belgium.

Together with Pidpa, Greenyard Fresh Belgium intends to purify and reuse over 100 000 m³ of its rinsing water for fruit and vegetables, each year. This corresponds with one of the Group’s five Sustainability Ambitions to lower the company’s water footprint. By the end of 2025, the Greenyard-group wants to reduce its own total water intensity by 10% compared to 2019.