Coca-Cola Enterprises: working to become a water sustainable operation

The soft drinks giant is progressing towards its targets of protecting, reducing, recycling and replenishing its most precious resource, water

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inShare0 Email Lorna Thorpe Guardian Professional, Thursday 16 May 2013 22.00 BST

Water is a precious resource: CCE has reduced its water use ratio by 14.6% since 2007. Photograph: Chris Packham

Coca-Cola Enterprises' (CCE) business depends on water. It is the main ingredient in the company's products and is also used for cooling, washing and rinsing at its manufacturing plants. But as the soft drinks giant recognises, water is a precious resource hence CCE's promise to do all it can to promote good water stewardship. Making its operations water sustainable is one of seven bold commitments set out in CCE's sustainability plan. In 2012 the company continued to make good headway on this goal, which sets targets in four elements across the full lifecycle of the water CCE uses protecting, reducing, recycling and replenishing. CCE measures water efficiency by calculating its water use ratio (the water needed to make one litre of product). In 2012, the company used less water than ever, achieving a ratio of 1.4 litres to make 1 litre of beverage. CCE's factories in France and Great Britain are the most

water-efficient Coca-Cola production plants in the world and the company has set a target of 1.2 litres per litre by 2020 across its operations. A range of new technologies and efficiency programmes have helped CCE reduce its water use ratio by 14.6% since 2007. These include dry and semi-dry lubricants, air rinsers, recycle and reclaim loops, electrochemically activated water, new bottle washers, adiabatic coolers and rainwater harvesting. Engineering teams work with suppliers to ensure the measures are properly implemented. The efforts of CCE's employees to save water have played a big part in CCE's success in improving its water-efficiency. Making sure that Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability (CRS) master plans are in place at each of its manufacturing plants is another important factor. Each site has water use targets. These are overseen by environmental managers who share best practices and train employees on the importance of saving water. To protect water sources for its operations and communities, CCE developed and/or updated source water protection plans at each of its 17 manufacturing sites. These were based on initial source water vulnerability assessments. The company already recycles 100% of the waste water from its manufacturing operations, with all of its waste water treated and returned to the environments at standards that support aquatic life. Many of its manufacturing sites have environmental management systems certified to ISO 14001, which helps the company manage its waste water. To meet its replenishment targets, CCE developed a long-term water replenishment partnership with WWF UK and the Coca-Cola Company to improve water quality and quantity in two river catchments, in Norfolk and South London. Both rivers are directly linked to CCE's business. In Norfolk the partnership teamed with the Norfolk Rivers Trust to improve the local river habitat of the River Nar, and worked with local farmers to enhance local land management practices. CCE's leadership in measuring, reducing and managing water use was put to the test when the company became one of the first businesses to pilot the new Carbon Trust Water Standard. The company achieved the standard in February 2013.

Abstract:
This case is about the global water sustainability initiatives undertaken by The Coca-Cola Company (Coca-Cola). It details the activities undertaken by Coca-Cola's management and employees to contribute to the benefit of the society and community in which the company operated by pledging to return all the water it used in its operations back to the environment. On June 5, 2007, Coca-Cola and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) launched a global project that focused on water conservation. Coca-Cola being one of the largest beverage companies in the world had water sustainability initiatives as an integral part of its corporate agenda since water was an important element for the company to run its business. According to the company, it was aware of the environmental impact caused by a business of its scale and therefore it had decided to implement a wide range of initiatives to improve the quality of life of its customers, the workforce, and the society at large. While Coca-Cola's water sustainability initiatives earned accolades from its collaboration partners, it came in for severe criticism from activists and environmental experts for allegedly depleting groundwater resources in India. The company was also accused of dumping toxic and hazardous waste materials near its bottling facilities, and discharging wastewater into the agricultural lands of farmers. Moreover, Coca-Cola was one of the most boycotted companies in the world for its alleged unethical business practices in developing countries. Notwithstanding the criticisms, the company championed various water sustainability initiatives such as rainwater harvesting, restoring groundwater resources, efficient water resource management, watershed protection, community water initiatives, and global awareness and action initiatives for educating the underserved communities the significance of water. The company was also criticized for spending millions of dollars to project a 'green' and 'environment-friendly' image, while failing to take care of the basics to operate its business in an ethical manner. The critics felt that this was an attempt at greenwashing as Coca-Cola's business practices in India had tarnished its brand image while its sales had taken a beating. However, the company intended to become a water neutral company by 2010.

Issues:
Understand the issues and challenges faced by Coca-Cola with regard to its global environmental responsibility initiatives. Understand the concept of sustainability and its relevance in today's businesses. Understand the need for a vision, policy, and governance structure in order to achieve the goals of sustainability management. Understand how environmentally and socially responsible behavior leads to sustainable business performance. Develop a framework to measure sustainability initiatives. Determine how a company's stand on social and environmental issues can contribute to enhancing its corporate image. Understand the reactions of consumers, environmental experts, and critics to Coca-Cola's water sustainability initiatives.