REXDALE, ON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 2, 2006--GE Water & Process Technologies, a unit of General Electric Company (NYSE:GE), joined the Hon. Laurel Broten, Minister of the Environment, in honouring Unilever Canada with a 2006 global ecomagination Leadership Award today. Unilever Canada received the award in recognition of their significant environmental and operational savings, which resulted in nearly 13 million gallons of water saved; an eight percent reduction of natural gas use; and an operational savings of USD $300,000.
"As a 2006 GE ecomagination Leadership Award winner, we commend Unilever Canada's environmental leadership and dedication," said Jeff Garwood, president and CEO, GE Water & Process Technologies. "Unilever Canada demonstrated to the world - and to their competitors - that increasingly, what's good for the environment can also be good for business."
"I congratulate Unilever Canada on the impressive results they've achieved by installing a cleaner, more efficient system in their plant," said Minister of the Environment Laurel Broten. "Our government knows that cleaning both the air we breathe and protecting the water we drink are critical to people's health."
Unilever Canada produces a broad range of food and home and personal care products. The Rexdale Plant is Unilever's leading manufacturing facility in North America producing 185 million pounds of heart-healthy margarines and oil. The company is a recognized environmental leader and has been listed seven years in a row on the Dow Jones Sustainability World Indexes (DJSI World). Unilever is also known for setting impressive environmental goals that include an annual 6% reduction of their energy consumption.
"As a company, we were facing rising and unpredictable energy prices, changing environmental regulations, and the aggressive goal of reducing our annual energy consumption by 6%," said Doug Dittburner, chief engineer and head of the Energy Team at the Unilever plant in Rexdale, Ontario. "We decided to partner with GE's ecomagination technology because it could help us attain our competitive, industrial and environmental goals."
Unilever Canada installed reverse osmosis desalination technology by GE that improved operational production and simultaneously decreased water, chemical and energy consumption. GE's ecomagination technology enabled the plant to purify and recycle water more effectively and increased the plant's feed-water cycles from 10 cycles to 100 cycles. The partnership saved Unilever USD $300,000.
Currently, over one billion people do not have access to safe potable water and by 2025, that number is estimated to grow to about 5.5 billion people worldwide. GE Water & Process Technologies works with corporations, like Unilever Canada, to address growing industrial and environmental demands, like water scarcity and water quality.
GE Water and Process Technologies' Advanced Membrane, Separation Solutions and Desalination technology provides customers with: safe, high-quality drinking water; public health protection; consistent high-quality industrial water; superior effluent; and technology that turns wastewater into a valuable asset that customers can be resell or recycle.
"With these eco-friendly products, we have helped companies around the globe reclaim 21 billion gallons of waste water each year, conserving water and cutting emissions," said Garwood.
GE recently completed its acquisition of Zenon Environmental Inc., a global leader in advanced membranes for water purification, wastewater treatment and water reuse.
"Specifically, ZENON expands and significantly differentiates GE in the market --enabling the company to provide advanced UF technology for municipal and potable water purification, wastewater treatment, seawater pretreatment and water reuse," said Garwood. "GE's larger product offering puts the company in a much stronger position to tackle the world's toughest water challenges, such as an increasingly stringent regulatory environment, greater water scarcity, declining water quality, and adequate supplies of high-quality industrial process water."
For more information on the GE ecomagination Leadership Award and GE ecomagination technology, please visit www.gewater.com.
About GE Water & Process Technologies
GE Water & Process Technologies, a unit of General Electric Company, is solving some of the world's most pressing water challenges by providing industrial, agricultural and potable water, while lessening our dependence on fresh water sources. Technologies to accomplish this include desalination, advanced membranes, separation solutions, and water reuse and wastewater management and process technologies. GE delivers value to customers by improving performance and product quality, reducing operating costs and extending equipment life. For more information on GE Water & Process Technologies, visit www.gewater.com.
In Canada, GE has operations across the country, including 15 major manufacturing facilities, over 150 sales and service locations and more than 9,500 employees.
Contacts
GE Water & Process Technologies
Ellen Mellody, 215-942-3307 C: 215-989-3025
or
GE Canada
Kim Warburton, 905-858-5678 C: 416-561-8316
or
Unilever Canada
Stan Reid, 416-240-4706
General Contact Information
GE Corporate
[email protected]
1-203-373-2039