Coca-Cola Becomes First Fortune 500 Company to Replenish All Water Used Globally The Coca-Cola Company and its global bottling partner (The Coca-Cola System) today announced that they have reached an agreement to reduce the amount of water used in the products they sell worldwide. The goal of replenishing, or “paying back” nature and the community in equal amounts. With this achievement, Coca-Cola becomes the first Fortune 500 company to publicly claim to have achieved such an ambitious water replenishment goal. The Coca-Cola System also announced progress on its water efficiency goals. In 2015, the water use efficiency of The Coca-Cola Company and its bottling partners increased by 2.5% compared with 2014, and has increased by 27% cumulatively since 2004. According to a global water use assessment project verified by LimnoTech and Deloitte and conducted in conjunction with The Nature Conservancy (TNC), in 2015, the Coca-Cola system diverted approximately 191.9 billion liters of water through community water projects ( 1,15% (equivalent to last year’s Coca-Cola beverage water) is repaid to nature and communities. Muhtar Kent, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Coca-Cola Company, said: "This achievement represents a proud moment for Coca-Cola and our partners. A goal that began as a vision in 2007 has now been achieved, and we plan to continue to grow the business." while maintaining this global milestone. Now, every time consumers drink a Coca-Cola product, they can trust that the company and its bottling partners are committed to using water responsibly, now and in the future. We know that. The work of water management is not yet complete, so we remain focused on exploring next steps to improve our water use plans and performance.” The Coca-Cola system achieves its water resources through 248 community water management projects in 71 countries. Supplementary objectives, these projects focus on access to safe water resources, watershed protection and production water use. In many cases, projects also provide sanitation and education, help improve local livelihoods, assist communities in adapting to climate change, improve water quality, enhance biodiversity, and initiate policy development and awareness of water issues. These aspects mentioned above have nothing to do with Coca-Cola's water replenishment. Water replenishment performance is independently reviewed by LimnoTech and verified by Deloitte. Water replenishment efforts are reflected in a 1,188-page report. The method for calculating water replenishment benefits was developed in partnership with The Nature Conservancy and LimnoTech. It uses accepted scientific and technical methods and is scientifically and technically peer-reviewed to prove its accuracy. This method is used every year to review and evaluate water replenishment projects. Some water replenishment projects repay water directly to the source, while others are located outside the catchment areas where our facilities use water, but these projects are important in helping to respond to the needs of local governments, communities and partners in areas where urgent need exists. Very important. The project for Coca-Cola and its partners provides immediate benefits, can be scaled to reach more people and scope in the ecosystem for greater impact, is easy to learn and replicate from other places where similar challenges exist, and can be easily replicated by the community in the future. Sustainably maintain and continue to replenish water resources. These efforts, along with new projects, often address local source water vulnerabilities and pay for additional sales as The Coca-Cola Company's business continues to grow. At each of Coca-Cola's 863 facilities around the world, Coca-Cola requires operations to determine the sustainability of the water sources they share with other members of the community in terms of quality, quantity and other issues such as the infrastructure to treat and distribute the water. One factor that Coca-Cola plants must consider during this process is whether the water they use and discharge may negatively impact access to adequate and high-quality water for other members of the community. If this is the case, or if the water source is still unsustainable in some way, Coca-Cola requires each factory to develop and implement a Source Water Protection Plan (Source Water Protection Plan). The project also invites other members of the community to work together on solutions to promote the sustainability of local water sources. This could lead to water replenishment projects or other opportunities. While each facility may not replenish all of its water to its immediate source, Coca-Cola's policy is to require all facilities to take steps to ensure they do not negatively impact water sources and to work with communities to find long-term solutions. Coca-Cola’s water replenishment strategy supports the company’s overall water goals: safely returning an equal amount of water used in its beverages and production back to communities and nature. On the production side, in 2015, the Coca-Cola system returned approximately 145.8 billion liters of water used in its manufacturing processes through treated wastewater to local water catchments near its bottling plants. "All life depends on water, but less than 1% of water in the world is usable fresh water. If we want to protect the source of fresh water for everyone, Then we have to take responsibility for the entire water system, from glaciers to estuaries, which means it's important for all parties to work together. This is an important milestone for Coca-Cola's continued leadership in water management and sets the standard for other water users." Governments, civil society and other members of the private sector collaborate on water replenishment projects. Some of the organizations Coca-Cola partners with include: Global Environment & Technology Foundation (GETF), Millennium Challenge Corporation, The Nature Conservancy, United Nations Development Program Development Program (UNDP), UN-Habitat, United States Agency for International Development (USAID), WaterAid, Water and Sanitation for the Urban Poor for the Urban Poor (WSUP), Water For People, World Wildlife Fund and World Vision. Four programs that have made significant contributions to Coca-Cola's water replenishment activities are our global conservation partnership with the World Wildlife Fund and the Coca-Cola Africa Foundation's Water Replenishment Africa Action Plan. RAIN), The Coca-Cola Company’s Every Drop Matters, and The Coca-Cola Company’s 50 water funds investing in 12 countries in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean. All these plans will continue until 2020. The Water Replenishment Project works to compensate or offset water used directly by The Coca-Cola Company and its bottling partners at their sites in more than 200 countries. Water consumption includes water used in manufacturing as well as in finished beverages (including water from beverage machine sales). This target does not include the water used in the cultivation of agricultural ingredients sourced by the Coca-Cola system. However, sustainable water management practices are part of the permaculture guiding principles that The Coca-Cola Company requires its suppliers to implement. Source: Central News Agency (2016-08-30)
