- Minimise the use of water in our own operations, driving towards water neutral by 2040
- Reduce the overall water footprint of new textile products by 30% by 2030
- Source 50% of the UK fresh food from areas of sustainable water management by 2030
Water is essential for the health of our planet, communities and the resilience of our business. From water usage to quality, water is essential to produce the food our customers eat and the products they buy. At Sainsbury’s we recognise the need to manage this vital resource responsibly in our own operations, across our supply chain and the wider system. We know this isn’t an issue we can tackle alone, we work collaboratively with our suppliers and other organisations to collectively address water-related risks.
Against the continued threat of climate change, we have more work to do than ever before to make sure that the planet - and the people - who support the production of our food are protected from water related-risks, and that we work in step with the natural world to deliver good nutritious food to everyone for generations to come.
Our ambition
Our progress and highlights
20.5%
reduction in water usage from our 2018/19 baseline
1 billion
fewer litres of water used in our own operations than 20 years ago
A-
rating in CDP water 2024
2023
Nature and Biodiversity project of the year for our River Wyre catchment from Edie pilot
Our areas of focus
Managing water in our own operations
We continue to work to reduce water consumption in our own operations through the prevention of leaks, our innovative our self-supply licence and the roll out rainwater harvesting systems across our estate to recycle water. Improving visibility of consumption through more frequent meter readings supplemented with smart meter and AMR data, helps us identify the stores that are using too much and where to focus efforts to reduce consumption in our operations.
Managing water in our supply chains
Our supplier engagement focuses on identifying high risk suppliers, understanding their water risks and implementing mitigation or adaptation strategies to address them. We encourage transparency and reporting of water use through various platforms. We work collaboratively with our high environmental impact suppliers and provide water risk training for colleagues across the business.
Collective action projects
We know that to effectively address water risks we need to work collectively with others. Since 2021 we have worked with the Rivers Trust to help address water challenges across the UK implementing nature-based solutions on farmland, such as creating wetlands, planting buffer strips of trees, and creating leaky dams, to help slow the river’s flow upstream, improving resilience to floods and drought. We support seven collective action projects through the Courtauld 2030 Roadmap, all situated in important sourcing areas for our supply chain.
Case study
Nectar nudges water-saving behaviour with Severn Trent
In an industry-first partnership, Nectar360, which runs the Nectar loyalty programme, launched a new incentive scheme with Severn Trent, giving extra points to Nectar card holders who have a smart water meter and can demonstrate that they are reducing their water usage. As well as more loyalty points, customers who take part are likely to benefit from lower energy and water bills, if they’re on a measured bill. Launched in November 2024 and scheduled to run for 18 months, Severn Trent will select smart meter customers to take part in the scheme, with a sign-up target of around 25,000. As of March 2025, just under 4,000 people are on the scheme, and we are on track to meet our sign-up targets by the end of 2025.
