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.
This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here:
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150825005216/en/
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.
![](http://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=bwnews&sty=20150825005216r1&sid=ntxv4&distro=nx&lang=en)
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150825005216/en/
Copyright Business Wire 2015