Coke Claims Progress in Water Efficiency, Recycling
Date: 07-Oct-05
Country: USA
Author: Paul Simao
The world's largest soft drink maker made the claim after an environmental review of its bottling and manufacturing facilities around the world in 2004. The review is detailed in the company's annual report, the third undertaken by the firm, which will be released Friday.
"We are changing the way we operate to use less water, less energy and fewer raw materials, while improving our business efficiency," said Jeff Seabright, Coke's vice president of environment and water resources.
"We still have much to do, but our progress last year is documented in this report," Seabright said.
The report, based on information from 765 facilities that bottle or manufacture Coke products, said on average 2.72 liters of water was needed to produce one liter of beverage last year, down about 6 percent from 2.9 liters in 2003.
Water use is a touchy issue for Coca-Cola and its bottlers, who have been accused of draining water tables in India and worsening drought conditions in the Asian nation. The soft drink maker has said there is no evidence linking it or its bottlers to the groundwater problems.
The company noted Thursday that it had established rainwater harvesting programs at almost all of its plants in India and initiated partnerships to set up such projects in Indian communities.
According to the report, Coca-Cola also made progress in the area of recycling, which has been a bone of contention between the company and environmentalists, especially in the United States.
The amount of solid waste that was recycled at Coke plants globally increased to 76 percent in 2004 from 74 percent the previous year, according to the company, which added that it had taken steps to make its plastic bottles more recyclable.
But Ruth Caplan of the Sierra Club, a US environmental group, said the soft drink maker was falling short. She criticized the company for selling bottled water in containers that were not 100 percent recyclable.
"For them to give themselves a rating on the recycling of solid waste and totally ignore what they are contributing to the waste stream through the selling of bottled water is frankly outrageous," Caplan said.
Coca-Cola, which committed itself in 2000 to making its equipment up to 50 percent more energy efficient by 2010, said average energy use fell 2 percent per liter of product at its plants, while solid waste generation was down 4.5 percent.
Shares of Coca-Cola rose 9 cents to close at $42.71 on the New York Stock Exchange.
