Coca-Cola on track to meet water target

Soft drinks giant Coca-Cola says it is on well on track to meet its 2020 water replenishment target by the end of this year.

Based on the Coca-Cola system’s global water replenishment projects to date, the system is balancing the equivalent of an estimated 94 percent of the water used in its finished beverages based on 2014 sales volume. Since 2004, Coca-Cola has replenished an estimated 153.6bn litres of water back to communities and nature through 209 community water projects in 61 countries.

The Coca-Cola system returned approximately 126.7bn litres of water used in its manufacturing processes back to communities and nature through treated wastewater in 2014. These combined efforts put Coca-Cola on track to be the first global food and beverage company to replenish all the water it uses back to communities and nature, the compan y maintains.

“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,” said Muhtar Kent, chairman and ceo, The Coca-Cola Company.

“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.”

Mark Tercek, president and ceo, The Nature Conservancy (TNC) commented: “More and more companies now recognize that factoring nature into their decision-making is a smart business strategy. Coca-Cola’s commitment to water underscores that investing in nature can produce very positive returns for businesses and local communities.”

TNC was an instrumental partner in designing the methodology to quantify Coca-Cola’s water replenishment efforts to balance the water used in finished beverages.