Coca-Cola Hits Environmental Milestone By Replenishing Water

30 Aug 2016 --- Coca-Cola has reached its 2020 water replenishment goal five years ahead of schedule, making it the first fortune 500 company to restore all the water it uses globally.The Coca-Cola Company and its bottling partners (the Coca-Cola system) have met their goal to replenish the equivalent amount of water used in their global sales volume back to nature and communities.

An estimated 191.9 billion liters of water was returned to nature and communities through community water projects, equaling the equivalent of 115 percent of the water used in Coca-Cola’s beverages last year.

The company is claiming to be the first of its kind the reach such an aggressive water target by improving water use efficiency by 2.5 percent from 2014 to 2015, adding to a cumulative 27 percent improvement since 2004. 

 "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," says chairman and CEO of The Coca-Cola Company,  Muhtar Kent.

"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."

There have been 248 community water partnership projects spanning 71 countries. They focus on safe water access, watershed protection and water for productive use as well as providing sanitation and education to help improve local livelihoods and support communities to adapt to climate change, improve water quality, enhance biodiversity and build awareness of water issues. 

Coca-Cola says that some replenish projects directly return water to the source, while others are outside the watershed of its plants but are important to help meet the needs of local governments, communities and partners where there is a pressing need. 

The soft drinks giants looks out for partners that can directly benefit, have the possibility to be scaled up and achieve a greater impact by reaching more people and parts of the ecosystem and are easy to replicate in other locations with similar challenges. 

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. One of the factors the 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 what they call a Source Water Protection Plan which engages others to find sustainable solutions for the local water source. 

Replenish performance is independently reviewed by LimnoTech and verified by Deloitte. 

"All life depends on water, but less than one 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," says World Wildlife Fund (WWF) President and CEO, Carter Roberts. "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."