Coca-Cola has pledged to reduce and recycle the water it uses in the production of its beverages.
The company says it will focus its actions on reducing the water used to produce its beverages; recycling water used for beverage manufacturing processes; and replenishing water in communities and nature.
"We are focusing on water because this is where The Coca-Cola Company can have a real and positive impact," said E. Neville Isdell, chairman and CEO of The Coca-Cola Company. "Our goal is to replace every drop of water we use in our beverages and their production. For us that means reducing the amount of water used to produce our beverages, recycling water used for manufacturing processes so it can be returned safely to the environment, and replenishing water in communities and nature through locally relevant projects."
The pledge was announced at the annual meeting of WWF in Beijing, where the company launched a multi-year partnership with WWF to conserve and protect freshwater resources. This US$20 million commitment from Coca-Cola to WWF will be used to help conserve seven of the world's most important freshwater river basins, support more efficient water management in its operations and global supply chain, and reduce the company's carbon footprint.
"The Coca-Cola Company is answering the call to help solve the global freshwater crisis through this bold partnership," said James Leape, Director General of WWF International. "The company is stepping into new and uncharted territory, and we look forward to working together to meet the bold commitments they have made to water stewardship."
In 2006, The Coca-Cola Company and its franchised bottlers used approximately 290 billion liters of water for beverage production. Of that amount, approximately 114 billion liters were contained in the company's broad portfolio of beverages sold in markets around the world, and another 176 billion liters were used in beverage manufacturing processes such as rinsing, cleaning, heating and cooling.
The Company's pledge to replace the water it uses has three core components: reduce, recycle and replenish.
The Coca-Cola Company will set specific water efficiency targets for global operations by 2008 to be the most efficient user of water within peer companies. These targets will build on improvements already made by The Coca-Cola Company and its bottlers in water-use efficiency over the past five years, a period where total water use has decreased by 5.6% while sales volume has increased by 14.6%. In that same period, water efficiency improved 18.6%.
The company will align its entire global system in returning all water that it uses for manufacturing processes to the environment at a level that supports aquatic life and agriculture by the end of 2010. While water is treated currently to comply with local regulations and standards, the company has wastewater treatment standards that are more stringent than applicable standards in many parts of the world. Nearly 85 percent of Company and independent bottling operations are aligned with the company's higher standards, and the company pledged to align 100% of its entire global system.
The company will also expand support of healthy watersheds and sustainable communities to balance the water used in its finished beverages.
Coca-Cola and WWF have been working together for several years on a number of pilot projects to conserve water, address water efficiency in the Company's operations and protect species. The partners are expanding their work together to achieve meaningful and large-scale results.
