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SUSTAINABILITY LIBRARY 2023 Water and waste management Water and effluents management

Water and effluents management

We comply with local environmental standards and regulations, and work to limit local pollution.

Interaction with water as a shared resource

Management and responsibility for freshwater withdrawals, wastewater treatment and discharge are located locally in each company in the Group. The overall responsibility to form policies, establish KPI`s and strategies for our withdrawals, treatment and discharge of water lies with the Group management. In addition, the Group has a responsibility to consolidate, and control reported water related data from all companies.

All Water withdrawal per source, and discharge per treatment type and destination are reported monthly through Cemasys (Cemasys.com). LSG has developed Apps in PowerBI to monitor, control and analyze all environmental data reported through Cemasys. Based on these tools our companies are better equipped to control their environmental accounting, recognize trends, and implement preventive actions to mitigate negative impacts, and potentially increase possible positive impacts. In addition, we can monitor if our actions have the desired effect. Actual and potential impacts, both positive and negative from our operations have been identified through Risk evaluations.

We have identified that our operations do not have any significant impact on water bodies which we have permits for water withdrawal and discharge water quality. There are some potential negative impacts of our operations. If we withdraw significantly more water over time than we are allowed to, it can in worst case cause irreparable damage to local flora and fauna in the area.  This will in turn impact our operations, potentially leading to reduced capacity, employment and downstream activities. Our most water intensive operation do not withdraw water from drinking water sources.

LSG report in accordance with guidelines from several third-party benchmarking organizations and stakeholders (Coller FAIIR, CDP and GRI). In 2023 LSG continued the risk assessment regarding water withdrawal, water discharge and consumption of freshwater for all locations in the group, using WRI Aqueduct (https://www.wri.org/aqueduct) as a tool to identify which of our operations are located in areas with medium to high risk of Water Stress and Water Depletion.

Locations identified as being at risk for Water Stress and/or Water Depletion (See table 4 below) are in a continuous process of monitoring their local impacts, form action plans and frameworks where needed. Where policies are established on a national level, companies in the group have been informed and are in dialogue with official representatives. This is an ongoing process which have generated actions to reduce water withdrawal and improve water treatment of discharged water (See table 5 below).

Each location is tracking their progress using our PowerBI solution. 2022 was the first year we had a complete dataset for all locations regarding Water withdrawal, water discharge and consumption of water. In 2023 we continue, on a monthly basis, to track the effectiveness of our actions taken, and track our target with base year of 2022.

Since our operations in large does not consume water, we shifted our target for 2023 to only include locations in medium to high risk of water stress. Our new target is to reduce our water withdrawal in areas with medium to High risk of water stress with 5 % within 2025, with base year 2022. Locations included in this target can be found in table 4.

LSG is committed to ensure that all our employees have their basic needs regarding fresh water available in all our operations. This includes their right to access to clean quality fresh drinking water, sanitation facilities and clean working clothes. There have been no whistleblowing cases related this topic in 2023.

The Group has not registered any violations of regulations related to use of -and discharge of water in 2023.

Lerøy does not have any feed farming operations.

More information can be found in our LSG Water withdrawal and waste water discharge Policy.

 

Smolt feeding cages

 

CapEx and OpEx

CapEx in 2023 includes investments in RAS technology, water saving equipment, wastewater purifying facilities and technology and water efficiency equipment. OpEx in 2023 includes cost related to water permits, water use cost, wastewater treatment cost and labor cost. In 2023 the data quality on water related OpEx has improved for several companies in the group explaining the increase compared to 2022. The drop in CapEx is related to no new investments in RAS facilities in 2023.

 

Table 1: Water related CapEx and OpEx:

 

2021

2022

2023

CapEx

125 831 647 NOK

105 003 702 NOK

47 270 929 NOK

OpEx

12 551 294 NOK

23 447 573 NOK

31 789 065 NOK

Main goals
  • Water withdrawal reduction for units listed as having a medium to High risk of Water stress according to WRI Aquaduct – 5 % reduction within 2025, baseline year 2022.
  • Carry out water stress Risk Assessment for 100 % of own facilities.

Water withdrawal

The worlds dependency on clean freshwater have never been greater. With an increasing global population, increased temperatures due to increased Co2 emissions and increased pollution, it has become even more important to govern our water resources in a sustainable manner.

LSG takes this responsibility seriously and strives to protect and safeguard the freshwater sources we draw water from. We have devised strict protocols and procedures to make sure that we do not draw on more water than we are allowed to.

We are also in dialogue with local stakeholders and communities thorough local meetings organized by Lerøy. We need, through our ASC certification, to have meetings with local stakeholders and communities to discuss concerns and questions they have. To this date water withdrawal, water discharge and consummation of water has not been a topic at any of these meetings. We have neither had any enquiries or questions asked regarding our water management from Stakeholders.

We also continue our effort to switch all flow through systems for Salmon farming over to RAS and invest in water saving equipment in our downstream operations (See table 1). 

 

Table 2: Overview in m3 and Megaliter of freshwater withdrawals, discharged water and freshwater withdrawal per kg produced in LSG 2021, 2022 and 2023 with % change last year

 

2021 (m3/ML)

2022 (m3/ML)

2023  (m3/ML)

% change

Water withdrawal Total

85 115 628 / 85 115,6

96 775 397/ 96 775,3

88 423 892 / 88 423,8

- 9

Water Discharged Total

NA*

96 630 139 / 96 630,1

88 365 472 / 88 365,5 

- 9

Water withdrawal per kg produced*

NA

0,26**

0,34**

31,4

*Incomplete dataset for 2021

**excluding farming operations (Farming, Smolt production, cleanerfish production and parentfish production)

Seawater withdrawn is discharged directly back into the sea (See table 3 for Seawater withdrawal).

Our water withdrawals have been reduced by 9 % in 2023 compared to 2022. Our smolt production operations contribute to a significant part of the decrease. The VAP segment also had a water withdrawal reduction of 16 % compared to 2022.  Below is listed main reasons for the decrease in water withdrawal:

  • Water saving initiatives and investment in water saving equipment have resulted in a decrease in water withdrawal in our processing plants compared to 2022:
    1. Lerøy Aurora processing plant - 14 % reduction
    2. Lerøy Turkey Processing - 16 % reduction
    3. Lerøy Seafood Holding BV - 5 % reduction
    4. Lerøy Processing Spain - 3,2 % reduction
    5. Lerøy Sjømathuset - 3,4 % reduction
  • Reduced production volume, water saving initiatives and investment in water infrastructure and equipment in the Farming segment
    • Lerøy Midt - 14 % reduction
    • Lerøy Sjøtroll - 10 % reduction

Table 3: Water withdrawal per source in m3 and Megaliter (2023)

Water Source

m3 / ML

% of total Water withdrawn

Surface

86 390 969 / 86 391

71

Municipal

2 022 771 / 2 023

2

Groundwater

10 155/ 10

0,008

Seawater (>1,000 mg/L Total Dissolved Solids) 33 103 734 / 33 104

27

All seawater reported is discharged back into the sea.

In 2023 our juvenil fish production units used on average 7,25 m3/kg fish. Our slaughterhouses used on average 0,006 m3/kg fish. Our VAP segment used on average 0,008 m3/kg fish. Wildcatch segment used 0,019 m3 per kg fish produced. 

Table 4 Water and effluents

Numbers in megaliter
Municipal = Municipal Sea = Sea
Company
Lerøy Sweden
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Water withdrawal
75,2
Discharged treated
9,5
Discharged untreated
42,8
Consumed water
22,9
Lerøy smøgen Seafood AB
Water source: municipal
Water stress risk
Low
Water depletion risk
Low
Water withdrawal
65,7
Discharged treated
-
-
Discharged untreated
Municipal 42,8
-
Consumed water
22,9
Lerøy Seafood Kungelv AB
Water source: municipal
Water stress risk
Low
Water depletion risk
Low
Water withdrawal
9,5
Discharged treated
Municipal 9,5
-
Discharged untreated
-
-
Consumed water
-
Company
Lerøy Netherlands
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Water withdrawal
64,2
Discharged treated
-
Discharged untreated
64,2
Consumed water
-
Het Scheer 4
Water source: municipal
Water stress risk
Medium- High
Water depletion risk
Low- Medium
Water withdrawal
21,3
Discharged treated
-
-
Discharged untreated
Municipal 21,3
-
Consumed water
-
Scheurrak 1
Water source: municipal
Water stress risk
Medium- High
Water depletion risk
Low- Medium
Water withdrawal
4,4
Discharged treated
-
-
Discharged untreated
Municipal 4,4
-
Consumed water
-
Schlupengat 10
Water source: municipal
Water stress risk
Medium- High
Water depletion risk
Low- Medium
Water withdrawal
6,8
Discharged treated
-
-
Discharged untreated
Municipal 6,8
-
Consumed water
-
Westwal 10
Water source: municipal
Water stress risk
Medium- High
Water depletion risk
Low- Medium
Water withdrawal
31,2
Discharged treated
-
-
Discharged untreated
Municipal 31,2
-
Consumed water
-
Abbert 18
Water source: municipal
Water stress risk
Medium- High
Water depletion risk
Low- Medium
Water withdrawal
0,5
Discharged treated
-
-
Discharged untreated
Municipal 0,5
-
Consumed water
-
Company
Lerøy Seafood France SAS
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Water withdrawal
27
Discharged treated
27
Discharged untreated
-
Consumed water
-
Fishcut
Water source: municipal
Water stress risk
Extremely High
Water depletion risk
Low
Water withdrawal
15,9
Discharged treated
Municipal 15,9
-
Discharged untreated
-
-
Consumed water
-
Eurosalmon
Water source: municipal
Water stress risk
Low
Water depletion risk
Low
Water withdrawal
11,1
Discharged treated
Municipal 11,1
-
Discharged untreated
-
-
Consumed water
-
Company
Lerøy Turkey
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Water withdrawal
12,2
Discharged treated
12,2
Discharged untreated
-
Consumed water
-
Water source: surface
Water stress risk
High
Water depletion risk
Medium- High
Water withdrawal
-
Discharged treated
-
-
Discharged untreated
-
-
Consumed water
-
Water source: municipal
Water stress risk
High
Water depletion risk
Medium- High
Water withdrawal
2
Discharged treated
Municipal 2
-
Discharged untreated
-
-
Consumed water
-
Water source: groundwater
Water stress risk
High
Water depletion risk
Medium- High
Water withdrawal
10,2
Discharged treated
Municipal 10,2
-
Discharged untreated
-
-
Consumed water
-
Company
Lerøy Seafood Denmark AS
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Water withdrawal
210,7
Discharged treated
-
Discharged untreated
204
Consumed water
6,7
Scanfish
Water source: municipal
Water stress risk
Low- Medium
Water depletion risk
Low- Medium
Water withdrawal
45,1
Discharged treated
-
-
Discharged untreated
Municipal 45,1
-
Consumed water
-
P. Taabbel & co
Water source: municipal
Water stress risk
Low- Medium
Water depletion risk
Low- Medium
Water withdrawal
75,3
Discharged treated
-
-
Discharged untreated
Municipal 75,3
-
Consumed water
-
Thorfisk
Water source: municipal
Water stress risk
Low- Medium
Water depletion risk
Low- Medium
Water withdrawal
15,6
Discharged treated
-
-
Discharged untreated
Municipal 14,8
-
Consumed water
0,8
Bedr. Schillie Fiskeeksport A/S
Water source: municipal
Water stress risk
Low- Medium
Water depletion risk
Low- Medium
Water withdrawal
31,8
Discharged treated
-
-
Discharged untreated
Municipal 29,2
-
Consumed water
2,6
Lerøy Schlie
Water source: municipal
Water stress risk
Low- Medium
Water depletion risk
Low- Medium
Water withdrawal
8,8
Discharged treated
-
-
Discharged untreated
Municipal 8,1
-
Consumed water
0,7
Mondo Mar Marine Foods ApS
Water source: municipal
Water stress risk
Low- Medium
Water depletion risk
Low- Medium
Water withdrawal
34,1
Discharged treated
-
-
Discharged untreated
Municipal 31,5
-
Consumed water
2,6
Company
Lerøy Seafood Italy SRL
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Water withdrawal
7,1
Discharged treated
7,1
Discharged untreated
-
Consumed water
-
Lerøy Seafood Italy SRL
Water source: municipal
Water stress risk
Low
Water depletion risk
Low
Water withdrawal
7,1
Discharged treated
Municipal 7,1
-
Discharged untreated
-
-
Consumed water
-
Company
Lerøy Finland OY
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Water withdrawal
5,93
Discharged treated
5,93
Discharged untreated
-
Consumed water
-
Lerøy Finland
Water source: municipal
Water stress risk
Low
Water depletion risk
Low
Water withdrawal
5,93
Discharged treated
Municipal 5,93
-
Discharged untreated
-
-
Consumed water
-
Company
Lerøy Processing Spain
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Water withdrawal
87,1
Discharged treated
76,2
Discharged untreated
-
Consumed water
11,9
Madrid
Water source: municipal
Water stress risk
Extremely High
Water depletion risk
Medium- High
Water withdrawal
66,3
Discharged treated
Municipal 55,4
-
Discharged untreated
-
-
Consumed water
11,9
Barcelona
Water source: municipal
Water stress risk
Medium- High
Water depletion risk
Low- Medium
Water withdrawal
0,9
Discharged treated
Municipal 0,9
-
Discharged untreated
-
-
Consumed water
-
Valencia
Water source: municipal
Water stress risk
Low- Medium
Water depletion risk
Low- Medium
Water withdrawal
14,6
Discharged treated
Municipal 14,6
-
Discharged untreated
-
-
Consumed water
-
Alicante
Water source: municipal
Water stress risk
Extremely High
Water depletion risk
Extremely High
Water withdrawal
1,4
Discharged treated
Municipal 1,4
-
Discharged untreated
-
-
Consumed water
-
Canaries
Water source: municipal
Water stress risk
High
Water depletion risk
Low- Medium
Water withdrawal
3,9
Discharged treated
Municipal 3,9
-
Discharged untreated
-
-
Consumed water
-
Company
Lerøy Portugal
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Water withdrawal
4,5
Discharged treated
4,5
Discharged untreated
-
Consumed water
-
Lerøy Portugal
Water source: municipal
Water stress risk
Medium- High
Water depletion risk
Low- Medium
Water withdrawal
4,5
Discharged treated
Municipal 4,5
-
Discharged untreated
-
-
Consumed water
-
Company
Lerøy Norge AS
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Water withdrawal
14
Discharged treated
8,7
Discharged untreated
4,2
Consumed water
1,1
Avd. Laks & Vilt Oslo
Water source: municipal
Water stress risk
Low
Water depletion risk
Low
Water withdrawal
2
Discharged treated
-
-
Discharged untreated
Municipal 2
-
Consumed water
-
Avd. Stavanger
Water source: municipal
Water stress risk
Low
Water depletion risk
Low
Water withdrawal
1,9
Discharged treated
-
-
Discharged untreated
Municipal 1,7
-
Consumed water
0,2
Avd. Bergen
Water source: municipal
Water stress risk
Low
Water depletion risk
Low
Water withdrawal
3,4
Discharged treated
Municipal 3,3
-
Discharged untreated
-
-
Consumed water
0,1
Avd. Trondheim
Water source: municipal
Water stress risk
Low
Water depletion risk
Low
Water withdrawal
0,5
Discharged treated
-
-
Discharged untreated
Municipal 0,5
-
Consumed water
-
Sirevaag AS
Water source: municipal
Water stress risk
Low
Water depletion risk
Low
Water withdrawal
6,2
Discharged treated
Municipal 5,4
-
Discharged untreated
-
-
Consumed water
0,8
Company
Lerøy Bulandet
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Water withdrawal
31,7
Discharged treated
31,4
Discharged untreated
-
Consumed water
0,3
Lerøy Bulandet
Water source: municipal
Water stress risk
Low
Water depletion risk
Low
Water withdrawal
31,7
Discharged treated
Municipal 31,4
-
Discharged untreated
-
-
Consumed water
0,3
Company
Lerøy Fossen AS
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Water withdrawal
73,3
Discharged treated
73,3
Discharged untreated
-
Consumed water
-
Lerøy Fossen
Water source: municipal
Water stress risk
Low
Water depletion risk
Low
Water withdrawal
73,3
Discharged treated
Municipal 73,3
-
Discharged untreated
-
-
Consumed water
-
Company
Sjømathuset AS
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Water withdrawal
36,6
Discharged treated
36,6
Discharged untreated
-
Consumed water
-
Sjømathuset
Water source: municipal
Water stress risk
Low
Water depletion risk
Low
Water withdrawal
36,6
Discharged treated
Municipal 36,6
-
Discharged untreated
-
-
Consumed water
-
Segment
VAPS&D
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Water withdrawal
755,4
Discharged treated
397,6
Discharged untreated
315,5
Consumed water
42,2
Total VAPS&D
Water source: municipal
Water withdrawal
755,4
Discharged treated
Municipal 181,6
Sea 216
Discharged untreated
Municipal 315,5
-
Consumed water
42,2
Segment
Farming
Show details Hide details
Water withdrawal
87 968,9
Discharged treated
55 572,1
Discharged untreated
32 378
Consumed water
8,88
Aquaculture
Water source: surface
Water stress risk
Low
Water depletion risk
Low
Water withdrawal
87 180
Discharged treated
-
Sea 54 792
Discharged untreated
-
Sea 32 378
Consumed water
0,08
Industry
Water source: municipal
Water stress risk
Low
Water depletion risk
Low
Water withdrawal
788,9
Discharged treated
-
Sea 780,1
Discharged untreated
-
-
Consumed water
8,8
Segment
Wildcatch
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Water withdrawal
488,6
Discharged treated
115
Discharged untreated
541,59
Consumed water
3,5
Wildcatch Industry
Water source: municipal
Water stress risk
Low
Water depletion risk
Low
Water withdrawal
488,6
Discharged treated
-
Sea 115
Discharged untreated
Municipal 171,59
Sea 370
Consumed water
3,5
LSG
Show details Hide details
Water withdrawal
88 424
Discharged treated
55 559,6
Discharged untreated
32 808,9
Consumed water
55,4
Total LSG
Water withdrawal
88 424
Discharged treated
Municipal 181,7
Sea 55 377,9
Discharged untreated
Municipal 430,6
Sea 32 378,3
Consumed water
55,4
Water stress areas
Show details Hide details
Water withdrawal
166,9
Discharged treated
91,7
Discharged untreated
64,3
Consumed water
10,8
Footnotes
  1. In column water source, all municipal water = Third party water
  2. Discharge goes to biogas production
  3. Farming industry - Slaughterhouses - all located in Norway with low risk of water stress
  4. Only include municipal water source (from surface water source) with Medium to high risk of water stress. Surface and Groundwater sources can be found in table (Lerøy Turkey)

Our main target is to reduce water withdrawal with 5 % within 2025 in areas with medium to high water stress risk. In 2022 Lerøy withdrew 182 ML from these areas, and 167 ML in 2023 (reduction of 8,5 %). Lerøy closed 2 factories in 2023 operating in areas with medium or high risk of water stress. In addtion several water saving initiatives have been implemented (see table 5).

Water related impacts and risks

In our operations, and mainly the Smolt operations, there have been identified risks which may have a negative impact on our operations. Long term drought og long periods with freezing temperatures has the highest consequences for our operations and may cause severe impacts on both fish welfare and economics. Long term drought which will deplete our water reserves in magazines is however deemed unlikely since access to clean high quality freshwater in Norway is good. Long periods with below 0°C temperatures which can lead to is-cloging in the intake water to our juvenilefish production is also deemed unlikely. Our rutines and preventive measures is and have been sufficent to prevent this happening. Lerøy only produce protein in Norway where water sources has a low risk of water stress. 0 % of revenue is therefore dependent on protein from water- stressed areas. In addition we have long term permits and agreements for water withdrawal from Water sources which mitigates some of the Risk of water shortages.

In addition, all processing factories located in areas with medium to risk of Water stress (See table 4), there can be risk associated with access to clean freshwater. To date no such problems have been reported, but we are planning for the eventuality that it may become an issue. 

Our Downstream units are mainly located in industrial zones. These zones have both heavy and low water intensive industry. Our operations and withdrawal of water in these zones are considered low compared to the other industries. Our business could however be influenced if water shortages and or regulatory changes divert water permissions to high intensive industries in periods of shortages. This has not occurred, and we see it as unlikely to influence our operations.

 

Water saving technology

RAS (Recirculating Aquaculture Systems) technology allows Lerøy Seafood Group to produce fish with up to 99% reduction in water use compared to conventional flow-through systems. The Group started to use RAS-technology already in 2005.

In 2023, approximately 80% of all salmon smolt in Lerøy Seafood Group was reared with this technology, using 27 009 777 m3 freshwater. That is 31 % of the water drawn in the Farming segment.  RAS technology also entails that we recycle and clean the water before discharge.

Table 5: List of water saving and quality initiatives in companies with locations in medium to High risk of water stress (WRI Aquaduct)

Selskap

Actions: water withdrawal reduction

Actions: Water Discharge Quality

Lerøy Turkey

Changed Water spraying Nosils on fillet line to water saving types 

 New on site waste water Treatment technology

Lerøy France

1) Changed cooling of Traysealers to Closed Circle

2) Maintenance/repaired  Machines leaking water

3)New sealpack machine (Reduces water used to 8L/m maximum)

 

Lerøy Spain

1)       Water saving nosils installed in the Madrid Factory.

Water treatment plant installed 2022 in factory Madrid

Lerøy Seafood Holding BV

1)Changed several nosils on production lines to water saving types (2022)

2)Sensors on pinbone machine to drain water only when necessary.

 

 

Lerøy Portugal

 

 

Units which are not in water stress areas have also implemented water reducing initatives and water quality improvements  during 2023. This will, in addtion to improve our impact on the environment, also improve food safety and finances.

Water discharge - Effluents

We continue our work with water treatment and discharge data. During 2023 we have improved our procedures and guidelines for reporting water discharge data. Subtraction of Ice -and Brine production from the total waste water discharge figures have made it possible to calculate our consumed water with better accuracy. From 2023 we have also include water evaporation from Rice cooking in our Sushi production.

From 2023 Lerøy also have a complete reporting on seawater withdrawn and dischareged in our Farming segment. Seawater is not used in the VAPS&D segment. In total 33 104 megaliters of seawater was withdrawn and discharged back into the sea in 2023. 

Our target is that all facilities in Lerøy comply with National regulations and discharge limits in the country of operations. Discharge of waste water directly to freshwater environments we follow as a minimum the World Banks standard for waste limits where applicable to the specific geography. This included limits for Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD), Total Nitrogen (TN) and Total Phosphorus (TP). Lerøy had no discharge of wastewater to freshwater environments in 2023.

All of our processing factories, new and old, are equipped with fat separators and UV light treatment. In some factories, where it’s necessary, we also have chemical treatment (Chlorine) of waste water in addition to mechanical treatment before discharge.

See table 4 for discharge volumes per segment, and factories in areas with medium to high water stress risks.

 

Management of Water discharge related impacts

The group had no water related incidents or accidents related to water withdrawal and water discharge (volume and quality) in 2023.

Discharge water is analysed and tested in accordance with local regulations/requirements or permits (See tables 6-9), and deviations is handled in our quality management system. For our operations in Norway we report all water data (volume withdrawn, discharge and quality) to local government.

Depending on location and local requirements parameters analysed can be TOC (Total Organic Carbon), Ntot (Total Nitrogen, NT) and Ptot (total phosphor, TP) for Juvenile fish production, or Biological oxygen demand (BOD), Chemical oxygen demand (COD) fats and solids for factories. The limit, or degree purified water for these can wary depending on permit, regulations and area of operations. The permits also describes which type of analyze must be done within each Limit (Phosphorus in ml/l, Nitrogen in ml/l, fat in mg/l, COD and BOD and Total Settled solids (TSS) in ml/l).

All our processing facilities discharged wastewater to third party treatment plants which purify the water in accordance with local regulatory limits before released to water source. Lerøy have no discharge of wastewater directly to freshwater sources.

Using the WRI Aqueduct tool (Physical risk Quality) we performed in 2023 a risk assessment identifying 4 facilities operating in areas with low-medium and medium to high risk. Three are located in low to medium risk (Lerøy Italy Srl, Lerøy Smøgen Seafood AB and Lerøy Kungelv AB (Sweden)) and one in a medium to high risk area (Lerøy Turkey). We have invested in a new waste water treatment facility in Lerøy Turkey, see table 5. Lerøy Kungelv AB is a new facility that opened in May 2022 and is equipped with new wastewater treatment systems. Lerøy Smøgen Seafood AB sends all its wastewater to a Biogas production facility.

Below are tables showing examples of regulatory limits for operations in areas with low and medium to high risk of water stress.

Table 6: Discharge limits for a Juvenil fish production location in LSG 2023. Low risk of water stress.

Source

Component

Degree of purification

Wastewater

Total Organic Carbon (TOC)

77%

Wastewater

Total Nitrogen (Ntot)

22%

Wastewater

Total phosphor (Ptot)

64 %

 

Table 7: Discharge limits for Lerøy Turkey (VAPS&D segment). High risk of water stress

Source

Component

Degree of purification

Wastewater

Settled Solids (SM 2540 F)

10 ml/l

Wastewater

Chemical Oxygen Demand (SM 52220 D)

800 mg/l

Wastewater

Oil and Grease (SM 5520 D)

50 mg/l

 

Table 8: Discharge limits for Lerøy France – Fishcut factory (VAPS&D segment) High risk of water stress

Source

Component

Degree of purification

Wastewater

Chemical Oxygen Demand (NFT 90-101)

2000 mg/l

Wastewater

suspended matter (NFT 90-105)

600 mg/l

Wastewater

biochemical demand

in oxygen 5days (NFT 90-103)

800 mg/l

Wastewater

Nitrogen content (EN 25663)

150 mg/l

Wastewater

phosphorus content (NF EN 1189)

50 mg/l

 

Table 9: Discharge limits for Brandasund (Industry - Slaughterhouse), Low risk of water stress.

Source

Component

Degree of purification

Yearly discharge (kg/ton)

Wastewater

Fat and Grease

100 ml/l

0,7

Wastewater

Biological Oxygen (BOD)

500 mg/l

3,7

Wastewater

Chemical Oxygen demand (COD)

600 mg/l

4,5

Table 10: Discharge limits for Lerøy Portugal  (VAPS&D segment) medium to high risk of water stress

Source

Component

Degree of purification

 

Wastewater

Total suspended solids

35 ml/l

 

Wastewater

Biological Oxygen (BOD)

25 mg/l

 

Wastewater

Chemical Oxygen demand (COD)

125 mg/l

 

 

In Holland there are no regulations for discharge water for our operations, they are only required to analyse their waste water before release to municipal water treatment plant once pr year. They also analyse weekly for COD.

In our farming segment our most water intensive operations are the juvenile fish production, and discharged wastewater from these operations are managed through approvals from local governments. Sludge collected from waste water on-site are either composted to soil improvement (Fertilizer) or Biogas.

New technology and proximity to a biogas facility in Sweden have made it possible for one of our factories to send wastewater for treatment there, and at the same time recover biogas from the wastewater discharge. This has resulted in eliminating treatment on site which is beneficial for all parties.

Using RAS technology allows us to discharge the recycled water directly to the sea according to our permits. These permits for release of discharge water have different parameters which needs to be fulfilled based on location (See table 6-10 above). In addtion we perform MOM-B and/or MOM-C in areas where we discharge water to identify the profile of the reciveing waterbody.

Lerøy stive to material recover 100 % of our by-products from our operations. In 2023 we material recovered 91 % of our organic by-products. By products are either used for human consumption, sold as Animal feed ingredients, converted to fertilizer or sent to biogas production (effluents).

In partnership with a feed supplier Lerøy has invested in regenerative agriculture. 30% of wheat and corn crops are sourced from regenerative farms. We aim to continue and grow our investment to ensure that our suppliers of vegetable ingredients can diversify or rotate crops, move away from monoculture and develop cover crops. Lerøy has also invested in alternative feed sources such as macro Algae and insect protein.

Lerøy has a broad collaboration with various third-party companies also regarding water use and nutrient management in our operations. As an example we can mention our joint venture with the environmental protection organisation Bellona. Bellona and Lerøy has a joint venture, Ocean Forest, were we collaborate on producing blue mussels and algae’s, useing nitrogen, phosphorus and nutrient salts from our production of salmon. More information on Ocean Forest.

Bellona also function as a third party advisory related to sustainable water quality and nutrient management in our supply chain. 

All Water related non-conformites are reported, handled and stored in our Quality Management system. This system enables us to keep track of trends and implement correct corrective and preventive actions. Lerøy had no major incidents regarding wastewater spills or unwanted/unplanned discharge in 2023.

 

Water Consumption

In Accordance with CDP reporting framework we started to measure consumption of fresh water in January 1st 2022. Please see table 4 above for consumption data for the entire Group in 2023. The consumption of freshwater is calculated based on water withdrawal and water Discharge (Water withdrawal – Water discharge = Water consumption). Our target to have a stable consumption of water in water stressed areas was not reached in 2023. We increased from 3 ML (megaliter) in 2022 to 10,8 ML in 2023. The reason is that we in 2023 started to calculation the water evaporation from rice cooking, which have significantly influened the volume consumed. The entirety of the volume consumed is related to rice cooking in In Lerøy Spain, Madrid. All other locations have reduced or eliminated their consumption of water during 2023.

The reasoning behind our target for consumption of water is because we are dependent on water for ice production to cool our products and maintain food safety and quality, to produce Brine for our smoked products and rice cooking for our Sushi products.

Regarding the groups withdrawal of seawater for our processing operations (see table 3), all withdrawn seawater is discharged directly back to the sea or municipal treatment centre.

The consumption of fresh water are related to ice production and Brine injection in our Industry and VAPS&D segment. From 2023 the consumption of water related to Rice cooking (sushi production) is also included in the reporting. Not all factories have these activities so the consumption is zero for these units.

Lerøy do not use any water storage (facilities or reservoirs).

 

Water management Suppliers

An important part of Lerøys strategy is ensure that our suppliers operate and perform sustainably, also regarding water use, pollutants and consumption of water. Through dialogue, support and partnerships we will ensure that all of our value chain operate in accordance with sustainable principles. Lerøy have among other a collaboration with feed suppliers on water risk Management. It is important to determine the full risk profile and understand the actions needed to minimize risks linked with water use related to agriculture raw materials.  We are in the process of finalizing a risk assessment survey to fully understand the suppliers risk profile and which actions have to been taken on water related infrastructure, sustainable water withdrawal, sustainable water supply, buffer zones and the protection of water bodies from pollution. This also includes the use of pesticides in Agriculture. This requirement has resulted in a water conservation and efficiency plan for each supplier. More information can be found in our Supplier Code of Conduct and Code of conduct .

The requirements include the following:
  • Risk assessment of operations to identify which locations are in medium to high risk of water stress (WRI Aquaduct as tool).
  • Monitoring water stress indices for each location
  • Locations with medium to high water stress will implement water efficiency Programmes (WEP) to manage the risk.
  • Develop KPI`s for water reduction and improve water quality in areas with medium to high water stress.
  • List of preventive actions implemented or to be implemented, to reduce water withdrawal and increase water quality
  • Regulations and standards.
Water withdrawal and intensity Feed

We are working with our suppliers to increase data quality for water withdrawal, water discharge and consumption of water in the feed supply chain. Data regarding total water use in m3 for 2023 are Calculated using LCA Coefficients : Water use.

Water use total m3 4100000
Water use intensity m3/kg 0,024
Water scarcity in feed supply chain

Based on available data, our feed suppliers have done a risk assessment (WRI Aquaduct) of water scarcity to determine which main vegetable raw materials in fish feed are sourced from areas with water stress. The WRI Aquaduct tool have restrictions when analysing based on Raw material. The analysis is therefore based on average score on country level, presented as Europe.

Example, Rapeseed is sourced from Belgium (WRI Score 48), France (WRI score 31), Netherlands (WRI score 29) and Russia (WRI Score 15). The average is between 20-40 % score and presented as having a medium to high risk of water stress.

We are, together with our feed suppliers, in dialogue to better understand the methology and data quality needs to be able to disclose a complete and accurate data set. We are in the process, but it will take time still because of the availability and on current methology.

  % Sourced Average Water stress score (WRI) Water stress
Brazil - Soy 70 < 10% Low
Europe - Soy 30 < 20 % Low-medium
Europe - Wheat 100 < 20 % Low-medium
Europe - Rapeseed 100 < 40 % Medium - High

For more information please see our Fish feed Policy