STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN — The Coca-Cola Co. is set to become the first global food and beverage company to replenish all of the water it uses in production. The company said it is on track to meet its 2020 water replenishment goal by the end of 2015. Based on projects completed to date, Coca-Cola and its global bottling partners have replenished approximately 94% of the water used in finished beverages based on 2014 sales volume.
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| Muhtar Kent, chairman and c.e.o. of Coca-Cola. |
“There is no resource more precious to human life and the health of our global ecosystems and economies than water,” said Muhtar Kent, chairman and chief executive officer of Atlanta-based Coca-Cola. “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. 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% goal.”
Since 2004, Coca-Cola has returned an estimated 153.6 billion liters of water to communities and nature through 209 community water projects in 61 countries, and has replenished approximately 126.7 billion liters of water used in manufacturing processes through treated wastewater last year. Coca-Cola’s water replenishment goal does not include the water footprint of growing agricultural ingredients; however, sustainable water practices are part of the company’s Sustainable Agriculture Guiding Principles required for suppliers, Coca-Cola said.
The Coca-Cola system returns the amount of water equivalent to what it uses in production through replenishment projects, increasing water use efficiency in manufacturing plants and through wastewater treatment. Coca-Cola has collaborated with The Nature Conservancy to calculate the volume of water it has replenished. The Coca-Cola Africa Foundation’s Replenish Africa Initiative and the company’s Every Drop Matters partnership with United Nations Development Programme also are major contributors in Coca-Cola’s efforts. Through Every Drop Matters, Coca-Cola and U.N.D.P. have partnered to improve safe water access for more than 1 million people in Eastern Europe and the Middle East.
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| Mark Tercek, president and c.e.o. of The Nature Conservancy. |
