WATER MANAGEMENT
The company’s water supply comes from three primary sources: surface water, groundwater, and municipal water, depending on the location and quantity needed. Our industrial operations primarily produce pulp, paper, paperboard, molded pulp, and tissue products.
The company’s water supply comes from three primary sources: surface water, groundwater, and municipal water, depending on the location and quantity needed. Our industrial operations primarily produce pulp, paper, paperboard, molded pulp, and tissue products.
Our corporate goal for sustainable development is to reduce industrial water use per ton of product by 25% by 2025, including all our plants in the eight countries where we operate in Latin America.
GOAL 6.4:
By 2030, significantly increase the efficient use of water resources in all segments and ensure the sustainability of freshwater extraction and supply to address water scarcity and significantly reduce the number of people suffering from water scarcity.
To achieve this goal, the 2025 Water Roadmap was drafted, a plan composed of strategies and projects aimed at reducing water use, which facilitates the identification of the current state and future projections concerning meeting the 2025 goal throughout CMPC’s businesses. The Water Roadmap is a “live” document and its low level of uncertainty allows it to be used as a reliable monitoring and control tool for compliance with the 2025 Water Goal.
In 2022, a new governance was established for CMPC’s “Water Use Reduction” Beyond Focus, which considers the creation of the Water Technical Operational Committee, whose objective is to update the roadmap based on progress, detect critical routes, threats, reduction opportunities and establish priorities. This committee meets every two weeks, by plant/business/sub-business and is made up of the following areas (Offices and Departments) of the Company, being led by the Environment, Health and Safety Department’s Water Resources and Effluents Office: Environmental Projects and New Businesses, Studies, Operational Environmental Management, Innovation, Projects and Plant’s Management.
Several of the Roadmap’s initiatives entail recovery and recirculation of water and the improvement of operational efficiency. Some of the projects and initiatives that contributed to the advancing toward the water goal in 2024 were:
| Plant | Description | Reduction (m3/d) | Reduction (m3/ADt) |
| Pacífico | Changeover of Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) units in electric rooms to air cooling instead of water cooling | 2,986 | 2.21 |
| Guaíba | Sealing and cooling water recovery (rainwa-ter network). | 3,500 | 2.90 |
| Guaíba | Use condensate B in causticizing to replace hot water | 946 | 0.78 |
| Guaíba | Use treated effluent for chemical prepara-tion and in presses. | 1,526 | 1.26 |
| Valdivia | New pulp disintegration line in refiner and pulper. | 552 | 3.00 |
| Valdivia | Reuse of clarified water disc filter in MP1 (paper machine 1) showers | 331 | 1.80 |
Find out more about our water-related initiatives in our Integrated Report 2024
During 2024, an environmental training program was implemented for all employees under GEMASS Management (Environment, Occupational Health and Safety Department), aiming to strengthen environmental knowledge and promote internal mobility within the management team. The program consists of 13 environmental modules made available through the Mi Fibra platform for staff, which include training sessions on water resources and effluent treatment, to raise awareness about the responsible use of water, initiatives, risks and/or improvements to optimize water use in the operations. All training materials are delivered through a digital platform.
Water Stress and Associated Risks
Water risks are directly related to water availability and the quality of discharges, which is particularly critical in territories with increasing levels of water stress.
Mexico is facing a water crisis, with 88% of its municipalities affected by drought, pollution, and overexploitation of water resources. According to the Drought Monitor of the National Water Commission (Conagua), Altamira is among the most severely impacted municipalities, currently experiencing “exceptional” drought conditions (D4)—the highest level of intensity, indicating an extremely severe drought. In 2024, this risk materialized when Softys experienced a water supply disruption at its Altamira plant, resulting in a cost of USD $12,857,000.
As part of water efficiency management, Softys is conducting an assessment of water use across its facilities with an external consultant, which includes a hydrological study and water audits. The initiative seeks to address water stress at several sites in Latin America and guide the development of action plans aimed at improving water use efficiency.
2025 GOAL: REDUCE INDUSTRIAL WATER USE PER PRODUCED TON BY 25%
| 2018 Baseline | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 Goal | |
| Performance (m3/t) | 30.82 | 31.35 | 30.29 | 29.13 | 28.05 | 27.63 | 26.01 | 23.1 (-25%) |
| Annual variation (m3/t) | – | -0.55 | 0.51 | 1.67 | 2.74 | 3.17 | 4.79 | 7.70 |
| Progress (%) | – | 0% | 2% | 5% | 9% | 10% | 16% | 25% |
Note: Values are readjusted to include new acquisitions – SEPAC and Panamericana.
COLLECTION, DISCHARGE, AND INDUSTRIAL CONSUMPTION (M3)
| 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | |
| Collection | 210,879,399 | 203,935,768 | 195,375,256 | 191,077,351 | 183,981,312 |
| Discharge | 174,352,400 | 167,846,252 | 163,118,207 | 164,970,538 | 157,519,346 |
| Consumption | 36,527,000 | 36,090,516 | 32,257,48 | 26,106,812 | 26,461,965 |
PERCENTAGE OF WATER COLLECTION BY SOURCE
| 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | |
| Aguas superficiales | 90.96% | 91.16% | 91.06% | 91.5% | 91.60% |
| Aguas subterráneas | 7.74% | 7.63% | 7.73% | 7.5% | 7.34% |
| Aguas provistas por tercero | 1.30% | 1.20% | 1.21% | 1.0% | 1.06% |
PERCENTAGE OF WATER DISCHARGE BY DESTINATION
| 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | |
| Aguas Superficiales | 97,95% | 98,04% | 98,12% | 98.36% | 98.02% |
| Aguas Subterráneas | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| Aguas provistas por terceros | 1.96% | 1.86% | 1.77% | 1.59% | 1.90% |
| Mar | 0.09% | 0.09% | 0.11% | 0.06 | 0.07% |
