Pladis, the parent company of snacking brands including McVitie’s, has expanded its use of rainwater harvesting technology at its logistics site as it aims to improve its sustainability efforts.

The technology allows the company to capture and reuse rainwater for non-drinking purposes, including bathroom facilities, which lowers the amount of water that is needed for day-to-day operations.

The new system was installed at Pladis’ second distribution centre at the Ashby-de-la-Zouch logistics site. This upgrade is expected to reduce the distribution centre’s water usage by 25 per cent.

This comes after Pladis halved its water use at its main distribution centre on the same site utilising the technology.

Stewart McCollam, health and safety manager at Pladis UK&I’s logistics site in Ashby-de-la-Zouch, said: “Achieving a 50 per cent reduction in mains water use so far is a fantastic result and shows the impact of practical changes across our operations.

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“The system has given us a more efficient way to manage water use and provided a strong case for introducing the technology at our second warehouse.

“We’re now looking forward to seeing the impact of the system as it becomes established at our second distribution centre.”

The FMCG manufacturer has committed to a five-figure investment in the projects across the site, and the scheme was led by the Ashby-de-la-Zouch site’s ECO team.

Pladis’ ECO team brings together workers from different parts of the business to identify changes that can make the site more sustainable.

The distribution centres at Pladis hold around 90,000 pallets and produce and dispatch popular household-name snacks, including McVitie’s, Jacob’s and other brands, to major UK retailers.