Bentley Motors (www.bentleymotors.com) has installed a new water recycling system at its Crewe factory.

The company aims to become the most sustainable luxury-car manufacturer; after its recent carbon-neutral certification from the Carbon Trust, it continues to invest in a range of technologies to help reduce its water use, energy use and CO2 emissions.

It operates a number of reverse-osmosis treatment units to ensure that the water used in its manufacturing processes is free of any contaminants that could affect the high-quality paint finish (these units use high-pressure pumps to remove contaminants and create pure water).

Previously, due to the level of purity required, for every three litres of water drawn into the reverse osmosis treatment, only one litre could be used. After the installation of the recycling system, the other two litres are now being captured.

Board member Peter Bosch said: “Water plays a vital part in a number of our manufacturing processes, but it is also a natural resource, so reducing our consumption and re-using as much as we can is a key part of our philosophy.

"The new recycling system helps us to meet that objective. Our projections show that we can expect to capture over 350,000 litres of water in 2020, all of which can now be used to maintain our site.

"For example, we wash over 16 miles of internal routes every day to ensure that our factory is in immaculate condition — and we look after our plants and grounds carefully.

"Our next focus point will be to capture even larger volumes through rainwater harvesting.”