 Water is the number one ingredient in our beverages. In addition, we use water to clean packaging, wash equipment, purify our water to a certain high standard and perform other related tasks. Freshwater conservation is a key concern for Canadians, and we recognize our responsibility to protect this resource.
We are focused on conserving water and are accelerating conservation efforts in our facilities. We are also working with stakeholders to enhance our water stewardship efforts in our communities. Globally, The Coca-Cola Company has set a goal to work towards returning to communities and nature an amount of water equivalent to the amount used in all its beverages and their production while also improving water efficiency by 20% by 2012 as compared to 2004 levels. The Coca-Cola Company also commits to expand support of healthy watersheds and sustainable community water programs and maintain active partnerships in wastewater treatment communities.
Water Efficiency
As we grow our business, we must increase the efficiency with which we use water. To reduce our water use ratio – the amount of water used to produce one litre of beverage – we are implementing water-saving initiatives. In 2007 Coca-Cola Bottling Company used a total of 3.02 gigalitres of water and Coca-Cola Ltd. used 0.56 gigalitres.
 We currently measure the water use ratio of Coca-Cola Bottling Company and Coca-Cola Ltd. separately since the products of each are different. In 2007:
- Coca-Cola Bottling Company's seven production facilities used 1.69 litres of water to produce one litre of beverage, a 5% improvement over 2006.
- Coca-Cola Ltd.'s two Minute Maid production facilities used 2.5 litres of water to produce one litre of beverage. Note that Coca-Cola Ltd.’s water use ratio is higher because concentrated products (Minute Maid) contain less water than ready-to-drink beverages but require the same amount to produce.
We continue to invest in water-saving technologies.
These include:
- Recycle and reclaim loops in our membrane water treatment system
- Rinsers that use ionized air rather than water to rinse beverage containers
- Conversion of production lines so they no longer need water to transport beverages
To help its facilities identify more opportunities to save water Coca-Cola Bottling Company distributed a Water Conservation Toolkit. This analyzes the water used in each production facility as well as initiatives that can be implemented to conserve water. In 2007, Coca-Cola Bottling Company saved more than 17 million litres of water over 2006.
Protecting Our Watersheds
Since we depend on local water supplies, we must help manage and protect the surrounding watersheds. We currently have no facilities near environmentally protected areas and do not believe we have significant impacts on protected areas.
All our water comes from public facilities, and we pay for that water according to rates set by the municipal authorities.
Raising Awareness of Water Conservation
We support efforts to raise greater awareness of water stewardship and conservation among both our employees and our communities. For instance, we are developing an education and awareness campaign for our employees together with RiverSides, a non-profit environmental organization in Toronto that promotes personal and community watershed stewardship through education programs.
Responsible Treatment of Wastewater
Although we reduce our water use and recycle as much as possible, we nevertheless produce some wastewater during manufacturing. We require this wastewater to be appropriately treated in accordance with applicable laws and regulations. All our production facilities meet these wastewater standards.
In 2007 our production facilities discharged 1.41 gigalitres of wastewater into municipal treatment plants. Four of our production facilities have PH neutralizer systems for their contaminants; in the remaining five facilities individual municipalities treat our wastewater on our behalf.
GOALS: water stewardship
- Reduce our plant water usage ratio by 10% by 2010
- Help protect watersheds in territories where we operate
- Align our entire system with stringent wastewater treatment standards which require returning all water that is used in our manufacturing processes to the environment at a level that supports aquatic life by the end of 2010
For more information on The Coca-Cola Company's water stewardship strategy please visit the below links:
* Partway through 2007 a portion of Coca-Cola Ltd.’s production was outsourced to an independent co-packer, so it is not possible to calculate an accurate and comparable water-saving figure.
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