Did you know that COCA-COLA IS THE FIRST FORTUNE 500
COMPANY TO REPLENISH ALL THE WATER IT USES GLOBALLY?
Company and its bottling partners meet 2020 water
replenishment goal 5 years early; intend to maintain water stewardship
performance as business continues to grow
The Coca-Cola Company and its global bottling partners
(the Coca-Cola system) today announced they have met their goal to replenish,
or in other words balance, the equivalent amount of water used in their global
sales volume back to nature and communities. Based on this achievement,
Coca-Cola is the first Fortune 500 Company to publicly claim achieving such an
aggressive water replenishment target1.
The Coca-Cola system also announced progress against its
water efficiency goal. The Company and its bottling partners improved water use
efficiency by 2.5 percent from 2014 to 2015, adding to a cumulative 27 percent
improvement since 2004.
Based on a global water use assessment validated by
LimnoTech and Deloitte, and conducted in association with The Nature
Conservancy (TNC), the Coca-Cola system returned an estimated 191.9 billion
liters of water to nature and communities in 2015 through community water
projects, equaling the equivalent of 115 percent of the water used in
Coca-Cola’s beverages last year.
“This achievement marks a moment of pride for Coca-Cola
and our partners. A goal that started as aspiration in 2007 is today a reality
and a global milestone we plan to maintain as our business grows,” said Muhtar
Kent, Chairman and CEO, The Coca-Cola Company. “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.”
Drops represent countries with projects The Coca-Cola
system has achieved its water replenishment goals through 248 community water
partnership projects in 71 countries focused on safe water access, watershed
protection and water for productive use. In many cases, projects also provide
access to sanitation and education, help improve local livelihoods, assist
communities with adapting to climate change, improve water quality, enhance
biodiversity, engage on policy and build awareness on water issues. The program
aspects mentioned in the preceding sentence do not contribute to Coca-Cola’s
replenish volume.
Replenish performance is independently reviewed by
LimnoTech and verified by Deloitte. That work is reflected in a 1,188 page
report. The methodology for calculating water replenishment benefits was
created in collaboration with The Nature Conservancy and LimnoTech. It was the
subject of scientific technical peer review to verify its accuracy, and uses
generally accepted scientific and technical methods. Projects are reviewed
annually and evaluated using this methodology.
Some replenish projects directly return water to the
source we use while others are outside the watershed our plant uses but are
important to help meet needs of local governments, communities and partners
where there is a pressing need. Coca-Cola and its partners seek projects that
have a direct benefit, can be scaled up to have greater impact by reaching more
people and parts of an ecosystem, are easy to learn from and replicate in other
places where the challenges are similar, and can be built to be sustainable by
the community over time, continuing 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.
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. Through this process, one of the factors
Coca-Cola plants must examine is whether or not their use of water and
discharge of water has the potential to negatively impact the ability of other
community members to access a sufficient quantity and quality of water. If so,
or if there are areas where water sources may still be unsustainable in some
aspect, 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. This may result in replenish projects or other opportunities.
While each plant may not replenish all water to its direct source, Coca-Cola’s
policy is to require that all plants work to ensure they do not negatively
impact water sources and work with the community on longer term solutions.
Coca-Cola’s replenishment strategy supports the Company’s
overall water goal to safely return to communities and nature an amount of
water equal to what is used in its beverages and their production. On the
production side, the Coca-Cola system returned approximately 145.8 billion
liters of water used in its manufacturing processes back to local watersheds
near our bottling plants through treated wastewater in 2015.
“All life depends on water, but less than 1 percent of
the world’s water is fresh and accessible. From mountain glaciers to estuaries,
we must account for the whole system if we hope to secure freshwater for all,”
said Carter Roberts, World Wildlife Fund (WWF) President and CEO. “This means
partnerships matter. This is an important milestone in Coca-Cola’s continued
leadership on water stewardship and sets a standard for other water users to
build from.”
Coca-Cola collaborates on replenish projects with
governments, civil society and other members of the private sector. Some of the
many organizations Coca-Cola partners with include Global Environment &
Technology Foundation (GETF), Millennium Challenge Corporation, TNC, United
Nations Development Programme (UNDP), UN-Habitat, United States Agency for
International Development (USAID), WaterAid, Water and Sanitation for the Urban
Poor (WSUP), Water for People, WWF, and World Vision.
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,
which expanded to New World in 2014, and Coca-Cola’s investment in 50 water
funds across 12 countries in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, with key
partners TNC, FEMSA Foundation and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
All of these programs are active and committed through 2020.
Replenish projects work to balance, or offset, the direct
water use of The Coca-Cola Company and its bottling partners across operations
in more than 200 countries. The water use is inclusive of water used within
manufacturing as well as finished beverages, which includes water from fountain
sales. 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.
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 and more than 3,800 beverage choices. Led by Coca-Cola, one of the
world's most valuable and recognizable brands, our company’s portfolio features
20 billion-dollar brands, 18 of which are available in reduced-, low- or
no-calorie options. Our billion-dollar brands include Diet Coke, Coca-Cola
Zero, Fanta, Sprite, Dasani, vitamin water, Powerade, Minute Maid, Simply, Del
Valle, Georgia and Gold Peak. Through the world's largest beverage distribution
system, we are the No. 1 provider of both sparkling and still beverages. More than 1.9 billion servings of our
beverages are enjoyed by consumers in more than 200 countries each day. With an
enduring commitment to building sustainable communities, our company is focused
on initiatives that reduce our environmental footprint, 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.
1We acknowledge that different companies and industries
water use varies within their products and production. Coca-Cola’s claim is
based on publicly reported claims and information as of June 1, 2016, and is
inclusive of water return against direct water use.
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