A gift of water for community ovals and hippopotamuses

Amcor's plant in Brooklyn will collect rain water from its roof for use by the Werribee Open Range Zoo to enhance the activities at the award-winning Kubu River Hippos exhibit that cares for five hippopotamuses. The rain water will also allow Council to water street trees and Hamner Reserve in Yarraville to enable the continuous use of sports ovals by children and families.

The Amcor Water Giving Project is an exciting project which has already seen water collected from the roofs at 4 Amcor manufacturing sites, including two in Moorabbin, one in Scoresby and one in Preston. Together, these five sites have the potential to contribute up to 6 million litres of water each year to communities across Victoria.

The project is based on actively engaging the community and Amcor co-workers around water conservation. Amcor is taking the message home to co-workers by encouraging the installation of three-star efficiency showerheads, shower timers and coordinating discount offers for BlueScope Water tanks.

At Amcor’s Brooklyn plant, six BlueScope Water tanks with a total capacity of 124,800 litres have been installed. 1220 square metres of roof space is connected to these tanks, which have the potential to collect 593,579 litres of water each year.

The Brooklyn water giving project will be officially launched today by the Regional General Manager, Victoria and Tasmania of Amcor’s Fibre Packaging division, Grant Hewson, Acting Director of the Werribee Open Range Zoo, Simon Finlay and the Mayor of the City of Maribyrnong, Cr Michael Clarke.

Cr Clarke said it is great to see industry working with the community to sustain such vital resources as ovals and trees. “We know the community sees our parks and gardens as one of our most important assets, this water will compliment the hard work we have been doing to keep these areas healthy and welcoming in the current conditions.”

Werribee Open Range Zoo Acting Director, Simon Finlay, said community engagement projects were an important part of the response needed to tackle global environmental challenges. "In order to make widespread change, we must work together to embrace environmental sustainability in everything we do and to inspire others to do the same. This project by Amcor is setting a great example for other companies to follow."

Amcor’s Grant Hewson recognised the positive impact which the water giving project is having on the community: “We are pleased to provide this resource to the Council and the Werribee Open Range Zoo as the community will ultimately benefit from the abundance of trees, the lush parks and enjoyment of the Zoo’s wildlife.”

Site Manager at Amcor Brooklyn, Alex Majetic, summed up the effect of the project on his co-workers. “I think I speak for all of us when I say that it is great to be able to use our vast roof space to give something back to the community in which we operate.”

Amcor aims to be a leader in supporting environmental and social initiatives. Amcor’s Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives in Australia are delivered through the teamcor Community Engagement Program.

For more information about the water giving project, visit the website: www.amcor.com/teamcor