Coca-Cola ramps up environmental goals with WWF

American drinks giant Coca-Cola is looking improve its water efficiency by 25% by 2020 as part of a new set of global environmental goals and an expanded global parternship with World Wildlife Fund.

The new goals, which complement other Coca-Cola well-being and community commitments, focus on sustainable management of water, energy, and packaging use as well as sustainable sourcing of agricultural ingredients through 2020.

“At Coca-Cola, we are deeply committed to working with partners to address our collective environmental challenges and responsibly manage the planet’s resources,” said Muhtar Kent, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, The Coca-Cola Company.

“We are witnessing unprecedented demands on natural resources around the world. Continuing with business as usual puts everything at risk, including the viability of business,” said Carter Roberts, President and CEO, World Wildlife Fund. “These problems can only be solved by working together, and our work with Coca-Cola has proven that collaboration can amplify and accelerate the impact we need.”

Under the renewed and expanded partnership, Coca-Cola and WWF jointly developed new 2020 environmental sustainability goals for the Coca-Cola system – the Company and its nearly 300 bottling partners in more than 200 countries.

The new goals also include reducing CO2 emissions embedded in ‘the drink in your hand’ by 25% and to reach a 75% recovery rate of bottles and cans in developed markets.

Read full details of Coca-Cola’s ambitious new targets in the August issue of Ethical Performance.

Pictured above: Bentho torches are used to establish water quality.