Improved water management and water treatment at Coca-Cola Amatil facilities have reduced annual water consumption in manufacturing by 430 megalitres, or enough to fill 172 Olympic swimming pools, Group Managing Director of Coca-Cola Amatil Ms Alison Watkins said today.
“Like other beverage makers we need water to rinse bottles and cans and to ensure our production lines are cleaned while switching products,” Ms Watkins said.
“We also need water to wash the fruit and vegetables we get from local farmers before it’s prepared and canned at SPC. It’s part of making sure we deliver high-quality, delicious and nutritious products for families.”
“These are essential manufacturing activities, but we want to make sure we’re doing them responsibly. So, we take every opportunity to cut our water use.
“This year we’ve cut our internal water demand by 430 megalitres, or 172 Olympic swimming pools. That’s great news but there is more to be done and we will look for further savings over 2018.”
The water savings were achieved by:
- Stewardship: Water management plans for all food, brewing, bottling and distilling sites, also ensuring that water is only drawn from long-term sustainable sources;
- Efficiency: Water efficiency workshops to educate employees on the true value of water and further develop a life-cycle approach to sustainability.
- Replenishment: All Coca-Cola Amatil sites treat their waste water either on-site or discharge to municipal systems, meeting the most stringent requirements of either local regulatory authorities or The Coca-Cola Company. Water replenishment projects to provide additional high-quality water returns to communities, waterways and habitats.
Ms Watkins said three-quarters of the 2017 water savings – or around 320 megalitres – were at a single site – the SPC cannery in Shepparton, Australia. The next step for the Coca-Cola Amatil Group would be a 25 per cent improvement in water efficiency for the Alcohol & Coffee portfolio.
This was one of ten new commitments to improve sustainability outcomes by the end of 2020, referred to as 2020 Goals:
- Implement and embed our Human Rights Policy.
- Have a zero-harm workplace.
- Have at least 30% of Board, Senior Executive and Management positions held by women and improve depth and breadth of representation across all functions and Businesses.
- Measure the sugar intensity of our non-alcoholic beverages portfolio in all countries of operation and reduce total sugar intensity by 10% in Australia and New Zealand (compared to 2016) (Sugar intensity is portfolio-wide weighted volume average total sugar content g/100ml).
- Improve water intensity for non-alcoholic beverages to achieve no more than 1.95L/L and target a 25 percent improvement in water efficiency for alcoholic beverages (compared to 2013) and food (compared to 2010).
- Reduce the carbon footprint of the ‘drink in your hand’ by 25% (compared to 2010).
- Use 60% renewable and low-carbon energy in our operations.
- Develop the business case for a weighted average of 50% recycled plastic in PET containers across the Australian portfolio including carbonated soft drinks.
- Screen 80% of supplier spend using responsible sourcing criteria.
- Allocate the equivalent of 1% of EBIT to community investment programs.
The Coca-Cola Amatil 2017 Sustainability Report is available at www.ccamatil.com/en/our-contribution/reporting.