Borouge and Borealis reinforce their commitment to ensure water sustainability

With more than 70% of the world's water resources being used today for agricultural production, water wastage and evaporation become major challenges the world has to face.

This challenge will become even more severe as the population rises and by 2050 the demand for food is expected to increase by 70%, resulting in the exhaustion of water resources in many parts of the world.

The Summit is a new global platform for promoting water sustainability and brings together policymakers, scientists and business leaders to tackle the urgent challenges of wastewater, and water access and security. Borouge and Borealis provide innovative plastics solutions for infrastructure projects utilising pipes and geomembranes that significantly improve water efficiency.

As an example of an effective use of plastics solutions, Borouge recently supplied polyethylene for the manufacture of durable crack resistant pipes for the Valetta Irrigation Scheme in New Zealand.

This scheme provides 45 farmers with a piped water supply to replace the present open channels thereby saving significant water losses due to evaporation and seepage and enabling 37% more land to be irrigated without increasing the level of water extraction.

As a side benefit, small hydro-electric power units generate electricity at the discharge of the main pipe feed line thereby providing power to the immediate vicinity. This unique solution represents a complete water/energy solution for the farmers. Opportunities for similar water saving schemes exist throughout the world.

In line with its mission to ensure Value Creation through Innovation, Borouge's new Innovation Centre to be commissioned this year will play a vital role in the development of an increasing number of efficient water saving plastics solutions. Collaborating with Borealis' innovation centres in Europe and other local and regional research and development centres and partners in Asia, the Innovation Centre will host over 50 international engineers and researches.

They will focus on providing more advanced solutions to tackle the environmental and demographic trends such as climate change, rising population and unsustainable practices that affect negatively on water resources.

Since a further 20% of the global water resources are consumed by industry, Borouge and Borealis have responded by establishing their own water footprint programmes to identify opportunities to improve both companies' overall water management.

"The International Water Summit is an important platform for us to showcase our leading innovative pipe solutions for drinking water and sanitation, gas distribution and industrial applications," says Abdulaziz Alhajri CEO of Abu Dhabi Polymers Company (Borouge).

"The event is an ideal place to exchange best practices and efficient solutions related to water wastage and water sustainability issues and highlight the capabilities of our innovative plastics solutions in contributing to solving these issues."

As part of their corporate social responsibility programmes, Borouge and Borealis initiated in 2007 the Water for the World programme that serves as a platform for partnerships and stakeholders to combine their expertise, knowledge and resources to develop sustainable solutions and improving access to clean and safe drinking water and proper sanitation facilities for people around the world. The programme aims also to promote sustainable water management practices to preserve water resources, and to raise awareness in communities and across the value chain.

"Our engagement through Water for the World has provided us with better market and consumer insights as well as helped us to better understand the challenges and connect with important stakeholders," says Mark Garrett, Borealis Chief Executive.

"We are proud of our achievements during the past 5 years although there is still much to do. The United Nations has designated 2013 as the International Year of Water Cooperation, an excellent occasion to further build our partnership approach with Water for the World."

Borouge and Borealis' Water for the World programme has contributed to providing direct access to water for some 300,000 people in partnership with local partners and non-governmental organizations.

Borouge was established in 1998 as a joint venture between the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and Austria based Borealis, a leading provider of chemical and innovative plastics solutions. It is a groundbreaking international partnership at the forefront of the next generation of plastics innovation.