The not-for-profit will award up to $90,000 in grants to support community-based and academic-driven projects.

Nestlé also introduced reusable ice cream packaging.

The winners of the seventh annual U.S. Dairy Sustainability Awards were selected based on efforts toward continuous improvement in sustainability.

A 2015 report from the World Economic Forum said that water shortages will be the Earth's biggest threat in the next decade. Meanwhile, data from UN-Water show that by 2025, 1.8 billion people will be experiencing water scarcity, while two-thirds of the world's population could be living in still-concerning conditions of water stress.

At its core, sustainability within the food industry is about creating products that provide maximum nutrient density for the consumer, while creating a minimal impact on the environment.

One of the largest dairy production operations in the United States is achieving outstanding environmental performance from a Global Water & Energy FLOTAMET anaerobic digestion plant that removes pollution from wastewater and transforms it into green energy to fuel boilers.

Smarter packaging solutions not only are durable, cost-effective and recyclable, but also use less energy and water and emit fewer greenhouse gases.