The Coca Cola Company together with its bottling partners (the Coca-Cola system) recently announced the accomplishment of their goal which is to replenish or balance the amount of water used in their global sales volume back to nature and communities. Coca Cola is the first Fortune 500 Company share their achievement. Coca Cola Systems also disclosed its progress regarding its goal towards water efficiency. Together, they have improved water use efficiency by 2.5 percent from 2014 to 2015, adding to a cumulative 27 percent improvement since 2004.
According to the global water use assessment validated by LimnoTech and Deloitte, and conducted in association with The Nature Conservancy (TNC), the Coca Cola System returned around 191.9 billion liters of water through their projects, which is equivalent to 115 percent of the water used in Coca-Cola’s beverages last year.
Chairman and CEO of The Coca-Cola Company Muhtar Kent said that the achievement marked a moment of pride for Coca-Cola and their partners. A goal that started as aspiration in 2007 is today a reality and a global milestone they plan to maintain as our business grows
“Now, every time a consumer drinks a Coca-Cola product, they can have confidence that our company and bottling partners are committed to responsible water use today and tomorrow. We are keenly aware that our water stewardship work is unfinished and remain focused on exploring next steps to advance our water programs and performance.”, Kent added.
At each of its 863 plants globally, Coca-Cola requires operations to determine the sustainability of the water supply they share with others in terms of quality, quantity, and other issues such as infrastructure to treat and distribute water. Coca-Cola’s requirement then mandates that each plant develop and implement a Source Water Protection Plan. The plan, among other things, engages others to mutually seek solutions to promote the sustainability of the local water source.
Four programs with significant contribution to Coca-Cola’s water replenishment activities are our global conservation partnership with WWF, The Coca-Cola Africa Foundation’s Replenish Africa Initiative (RAIN), the Company’s Every Drop Matters partnership with UNDP, and Coca-Cola’s investment in 50 water funds across 12 countries. All of these programs are active and committed through 2020.
To learn more about Coca-Cola’s water stewardship program, visit the Company’s water stewardship report.
