Coca-Cola on Track to Meet 100% Water Replenishment Goal
August 25 2015 - 7:00AM
Business Wire
Company and its Bottling Partners
Replenished an Estimated 94% of 2014 Sales Volume; Working To Be
The First Food and Beverage Company To Replenish All The Water It
Uses
The Coca-Cola Company and its global bottling
partners (the Coca-Cola system) today announced they are on track
to meet their 2020 water replenishment goal by the end of
2015. Based on the Coca-Cola system’s global water replenishment
projects to date, the system is balancing the equivalent of an
estimated 94 percent of the water used in its finished beverages
based on 2014 sales volume. Since 2004, Coca-Cola has
replenished an estimated 153.6 billion liters of water back to
communities and nature through 209 community water projects in 61
countries. The Coca-Cola system returned approximately 126.7
billion liters of water used in its manufacturing processes back to
communities and nature through treated wastewater in 2014. These
combined efforts put Coca-Cola on track to be the first global food
and beverage company to replenish all the water it uses back to
communities and nature.
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Increasingly, Coca-Cola plants are
replacing rinsing of their beverage packages with ionized air
instead of water to further reduce the water used in its
manufacturing process and increase its overall water efficiency.
(Photo: Business Wire)
“There is no resource more precious to human life and the health
of our global ecosystems and economies than water. As a consumer of
water, the Coca-Cola system has a special responsibility to protect
this shared resource. This is why we set an aspirational goal of
being water neutral by 2020,” said Muhtar Kent, Chairman and CEO,
The Coca-Cola Company. “While we have made significant
progress toward making that goal a reality, we are more intent than
ever to give back the equivalent of all the water that we use to
communities and nature. And we will continue to do so after we meet
the 100 percent goal.”
Coca-Cola is able to give back the amount of water
equivalent to what it uses in its finished beverages and their
production through replenishment projects, increasing water use
efficiency in its plants, and returning water to watersheds and
municipalities through wastewater treatment. Part of meeting its
replenishment goal is engaging in diverse, locally focused
community water projects. Each project works toward set objectives
such as providing or improving access to safe water and sanitation,
protecting watersheds, supporting water conservation and raising
awareness on critical local water issues.
Once projects are established, the Company and its bottling
partners work to ensure those projects remain sustainable within
communities over time and continue to replenish water. These
efforts, as well as new projects, frequently address local source
water vulnerabilities and balance additional sales volume as
Coca-Cola’s business continues to grow each year.
“More and more companies now recognize that factoring nature
into their decision-making is a smart business strategy.
Coca-Cola’s commitment to water underscores that investing in
nature can produce very positive returns for businesses and local
communities,” said Mark Tercek, President and Chief Executive
Officer, The Nature Conservancy (TNC). “TNC is proud of its
collaboration with Coca-Cola and congratulates the company and its
bottling partners on a very significant achievement.”
TNC was an instrumental partner in designing the methodology to
quantify Coca-Cola’s water replenishment efforts to balance the
water used in finished beverages. The methodology for calculating
water replenishment benefits also was the subject of scientific
technical peer review to verify the use of generally accepted
methods and accuracy for the foregoing purpose. Projects are
reviewed annually and evaluated using this methodology. An overview
of each project and their respective replenishment value is
included in the Company’s 2015 replenishment verification report
prepared by LimnoTech and verified by Deloitte.
Two major contributors to Coca-Cola’s water replenishment
activities are The Coca-Cola Africa Foundation’s Replenish Africa
Initiative (RAIN) and the Company’s Every Drop Matters partnership
with United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Through RAIN,
Coca-Cola partners with Global Environment & Technology
Foundation (GETF), United States Agency for International
Development (USAID), Water and Sanitation for the Urban Poor
(WSUP), Millennium Challenge Corporation, WaterAid, Water for
People, and other organizations and local governments to bring safe
drinking water to an estimated 6 million Africans by 2020.
Through Every Drop Matters, Coca-Cola and UNDP have worked
together to improve safe water access for more than an estimated 1
million people in Eastern Europe and the Middle East with projects
focused on watershed restoration, sustainable agriculture,
infrastructure improvements and advocating for needed water policy.
Learn more about Coca-Cola system water partnerships here.
In 2007, The Coca-Cola Company and its
bottling partners set an aspirational goal to safely return to
communities and nature an amount of water equivalent to what is
used in its beverages and their production by 2020. The water
footprint of growing agricultural ingredients sourced by the
Coca-Cola system is not included in this goal. However, sustainable
water practices are part of Coca-Cola’s Sustainable Agriculture
Guiding Principles required for suppliers. The replenish projects
are the result of partnerships with governments, civil society and
other members of the private sector. Coca-Cola only calculates
replenishment credit for the portions of the project that are
directly funded or instituted by the Coca-Cola system.
To learn more about Coca-Cola’s water stewardship program,
visit the Company’s water stewardship report.
About The Coca-Cola
Company
The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO) is the world's largest beverage
company, refreshing consumers with more than 500 sparkling and
still brands. Led by Coca-Cola, one of the world's most valuable
and recognizable brands, our Company's portfolio features 20
billion-dollar brands including Diet Coke, Fanta, Sprite, Coca-Cola
Zero, vitaminwater, Powerade, Minute Maid, Simply, Georgia and Del
Valle. Globally, we are the No. 1 provider of sparkling beverages,
ready-to-drink coffees, and juices and juice drinks. Through the
world's largest beverage distribution system, consumers in more
than 200 countries enjoy our beverages at a rate of 1.9 billion
servings a day. With an enduring commitment to building sustainable
communities, our Company is focused on initiatives that reduce our
environmental footprint, support active, healthy living, create a
safe, inclusive work environment for our associates, and enhance
the economic development of the communities where we operate.
Together with our bottling partners, we rank among the world's top
10 private employers with more than 700,000 system associates. For
more information, visit Coca-Cola Journey at
www.coca-colacompany.com, follow us on Twitter at
twitter.com/CocaColaCo, visit our blog, Coca-Cola Unbottled, at
www.coca-colablog.com or find us on LinkedIn at
www.linkedin.com/company/the-coca-cola-company.
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The Coca-Cola CompanySerena Levy, +01
404-676-2683press@coca-cola.com
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