Coca-Cola Replenishes 108.5 Billion Liters of Water Back to Communities

The Coca-Cola Company and its bottling partners announced today they are on track to meet their 2020 water replenishment goal by balancing an estimated 68 percent of the water used in their finished beverages based on 2013 sales volume. To date, Coca-Cola has replenished an estimated 108.5 billion liters of water back to communities and nature through 509 community water projects in more than 100 countries.

A woman in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, fills up a water storage container with safe water for her home provided through a partnership with The Coca-Cola Africa Foundation, WaterAid, the local water utility and the local community to provide residents with clean, treated drinking water. One of many replenish projects underway through Coca-Cola's RAIN program (http://www.coca-colacompany.com/rain-the-replenish-africa-initiative) that aims to provide safe water to 2 million Africans by 2015. (Photo: Business Wire)

"At Coca-Cola, water stewardship is a primary focus of our sustainability efforts across our global system. By setting and working to meet our ambitious goals, we are effectively and responsibly managing the valuable resource on which our business relies," said Beatriz Perez, Chief Sustainability Officer, The Coca-Cola Company. "In addition to the announcement of today's milestone, we have seen a pervasive uptake across the entire Coca-Cola system with 80 percent of our business units on track or ahead of pace to meet their 2020 water replenishment goals. We are proud to report that all are making progress in replenishing this important resource we share with communities and nature."

Coca-Cola has been able to achieve this success by engaging in 509 diverse, locally-focused community water projects in more than 100 countries. Each project works toward set objectives such as providing or improving access to safe water and sanitation, protecting watersheds, supporting water conservation and raising awareness on critical local water issues.

In India, Coca-Cola set a goal to replenish more than 100 percent of the water it uses in its manufacturing operations nationally. To date, Coca-Cola has surpassed that objective by creating a replenishment potential of more than 130 percent of the water it uses in India through the support of projects across the country. Projects include providing safe water access and sanitation in schools, building rainwater harvesting structures, restoration of ponds, check dams and interventions focused on improving water use efficiency in agriculture. Similar projects and goals have been set across the Coca-Cola system with strong results.In addition to replenishing water back to communities to balance the Coca-Cola system's global sales volume, Coca-Cola returns the water it uses in producing its beverages back to communities and the environment through high-quality treated wastewater that supports aquatic life and meets or exceeds local regulation. The Coca-Cola system also is working to upgrade its facilities to improve water use efficiency -- improved 21.4 percent from 2004 to 2012 -- and implementing source water protection plans and vulnerability assessments in all facilities globally.

In March 2014, Coca-Cola introduced a state-of-the-art bottling plant in Trujillo, Peru, that has qualified for LEED-certification. The facility is one of the most modern in all of South America advancing production efficiency and more efficient water and energy use. The investment in this bottling plant is part of the Company's commitment in Peru to be water neutral (100 percent balanced) by 2015.

In 2007, The Coca-Cola Company and its bottling partners set an aspirational goal to safely return to communities and nature an amount of water equivalent to what they use in their beverages and production by 2020. The Coca-Cola system reaffirmed this goal in 2013 when they renewed their partnership with World Wildlife Fund.

To learn more about Coca-Cola's water stewardship program, visit the Company's water stewardship report.

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• Consumer Products
• Water Risk