The Coca-Cola Company Global Water Management Standards and Practices
Overview
Water is essential to the sustainability of life on our planet. It is the most essential ingredient for our business and a shared resource under growing stress in many parts of the world. The availability of water also affects our Company's supply chain; for example, it is a key ingredient in the production of sugar. The Coca-Cola Company recognizes that water is a precious natural resource facing unprecedented challenges from over-exploitation, increasing pollution and poor management. Water stewardship is therefore essential for the sustainability of our business and the health and prosperity of the communities in which we operate.
A Corporate Commitment
The Coca-Cola Company has pledged to lead its global beverage operations, including those of its franchise bottlers, by working to return the water we use in our beverages and their production back to nature. Fulfilling this pledge requires the Company to work deliberately and aggressively to employ the “3 R's”: 1) reduce water used to produce beverages, 2) recycle water used for beverage manufacturing processes, and 3) replenish water in communities and nature.
In June 2007, our Chairman announced a public goal for the entire Coca-Cola system to "return the water we use," working to achieve water neutrality worldwide.
Water Management Standards and Guidance
The Coca-Cola Company manages water based on community needs and sound science. Working with internal and external experts, the Company's Global Water Stewardship team develops standards and guidelines and provides training and technical support to enable a global bottling system of over 900 facilities in more than 200 countries to assess and manage water resources. Company water standards address the following:
Sourcewater Protection. This standard enables plants to maintain, safeguard and/or improve the quality and sustainability of water for their locations. It is based on a comprehensive hydrogeological and surface hydrology assessment that must be conducted for each water source.
Effluent Quality. Effluent from our production and bottling facilities (commonly referred to as wastewater) is treated to a level capable of supporting aquatic life and in accordance with all applicable laws and regulations. In communities where external treatment facilities do not fully treat the effluents, our operations have on-site treatment systems that meet all laws and regulations and our Company's own high standards.
Water Scarcity. This standard enables plants to manage operations during periods in which either a reduction in availability or an increase in demand affects the quantity of water required to maintain normal operations. Assessing water scarcity is an essential element of plant siting, operations in water-stressed regions, plant consolidation and expansion.
Related Standards and Guidance
Environmental Protection and Plant Siting. Before building a plant anywhere in the world, The Coca-Cola Company conducts a thorough assessment of environmental and occupational safety and health (EOSH) issues, which includes an adequate water requirement. The guidelines also require a careful site evaluation to determine that neither community access nor the quality of that water supply will be negatively impacted by our operations.
Community Engagement. Management teams at all facilities are required to implement a community engagement program to support environmental improvement and education efforts in and around the communities where we operate. These programs are custom-designed to meet the specific needs of individual communities, with program elements ranging from rainwater harvesting, to watershed protection initiatives, to health promotion efforts, education scholarships and more.
Assuring Standards Compliance
The Company's global audit system ensures standards compliance at all operations through routine audits, and by ensuring that corrective actions are identified and implemented by business units.
All operations, including those of franchise bottling partners, are audited for environmental standards compliance. An independent global audit team monitors the overall process and tracks corrective actions for individual plants. The audits are conducted by a third party independent agency and occur in routine intervals that reflect standard industry practice.
