Fresh water is a finite resource, yet the demands placed on it continue to grow. Globally, more than one billion people do not have access to adequate water, and this number is expected to double in the next 20 years due to the effects of climate change. Even in North America and Europe, water scarcity is a real and growing issue.

Without access to water, our business cannot succeed. Therefore, we are actively working to ensure that this vital resource is managed sustainably. Already one of the most water-efficient bottlers in the Coca-Cola system, we have committed to a further eight percent improvement by 2012. We invested more than US$3.8 million in water-saving capital projects in 2008.

We are expanding our focus, addressing water not only in our own operations, but also in our communities. We are increasing our collaboration with non-governmental organizations (NGOs), government agencies, and communities to protect watersheds wherever we operate.

In early 2009, we took our commitment to water stewardship to a new level by endorsing the CEO Water Mandate of the United Nations Global Compact. By doing so, we pledge to improve water use in our own operations and our supply chain. In recognition of the growing role of business in the governance of water, we also commit to working with governments and authorities to promote sustainable water management.

These efforts benefit our business by safeguarding our most important ingredient, our license to operate, and our future business growth. Improved water efficiency can also generate cost savings, while watershed protection initiatives help us build and strengthen important relationships with our stakeholders.

Understanding Our Water Sources

At the heart of our approach is the need to manage water at the local level. Water-related risks vary significantly from territory to territory. In 2008, we completed water-risk surveys for each of our 79 production facilities. Part of a global program by The Coca-Cola Company conducted every three years, we studied three key areas: the annual renewable freshwater supply; supply economics; and the social, political, and competitive context in which we operate.

In areas of water scarcity or at sites where we withdraw mineral or groundwater, we undertake highly detailed assessments of the vulnerability of our water sources. These facility-specific assessments involve watershed mapping, consultation with water suppliers, and development of a risk-mitigation strategy. In 2008, we conducted assessments at our facilities in Cleveland, Tennessee, and Montgomery, Alabama, and we began the process in El Paso, Texas, in early 2009. Since these facilities are within river basins conserved by our partnership with The Coca-Cola Company and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), we invited the WWF to act as observers. We are working toward conducting such assessments at all production facilities.

We withdraw water primarily from public sources. Only three facilities in North America and six in Europe derive water from private supplies. Groundwater comprises less than 10 percent of our water withdrawal. Based on information available, we believe that our water withdrawal has negligible impact on local water sources.

Improving Our Water Efficiency

As a beverage manufacturer, most of the water we use ends up in our products. Although we cannot reduce the water content of our beverages, we continue to reduce the water we use for cleaning and other manufacturing processes.

In 2008, we used an average of 1.73 liters of water to produce one liter of beverage, a two percent improvement over the previous year. This compares favorably with others in the Coca-Cola system and the non-alcoholic beverage industry as a whole, according to a study conducted by the Beverage Industry Environmental Roundtable. Since 2005, we have improved our efficiency by almost 12 percent, and we were recognized by American Rivers for our facility conservation initiatives in 2008.

Nevertheless, as a beverage manufacturer, we remain a significant user of water, using 35 billion liters of water in 2008. As water comes under increasing stress, we are intensifying efforts to improve the efficiency with which we use this critical resource.

When we began to look at what it would take to achieve our overall water-neutral impact goal — which we have defined as using one liter of water to produce one liter of beverage — we discovered that we would reach a water/energy trade-off at efficiencies of 1.3 liters of water for one liter of product. If we were to continue to reduce our water use ratio down to 1:1, the concentrated wastewater would require more energy to process before it could be returned to the watershed. Therefore, we have revised our goal and now intend to reach an average efficiency of 1.3 across our business and to achieve a water-neutral impact through replenishment efforts in our local watersheds.

Water Conservation Measures

The most significant contribution to our water savings comes from retrofitting our water treatment systems with recycle and reclaim loops. These systems help to divert reclaimed water from our water treatment process and redirect it for reuse elsewhere in our facilities, such as cooling towers, boilers, or washing floors. In 2008, we installed an additional four systems, saving 180 million liters of water each year. We now have a total of nine systems in our facilities and, over time, we intend to install recycle and reclaim loops in all eligible production facilities.

Other major water-saving initiatives:

• Dry lube — 75 additional production lines were converted to dry lubrication technology during 2008, bringing our total to 93. Instead of soapy water, this system uses a silicon-based lubricant to move containers along production lines. This technology will save 85 million liters of water annually.
• Air rinsers — Eight additional production lines were converted to use ionized air rather than water to rinse beverage containers, bringing our total to 26. This will save an additional 30 million liters of water annually.
• Can warmers — Nine production lines were converted to extend the life of water used in can warmers, replacing it as needed rather than at set intervals. This will save six million liters of water annually. We are now piloting the process on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottle lines.

In addition, we continue to explore more efficient clean-in-place technologies. For example, we are piloting the use of electrolyzed water in our Marietta, Georgia, facility, which could help save both water and energy. We are also continuing our ozone sanitation pilot program, which uses less water and fewer chemicals to clean our production lines.

Some of our facilities are also implementing facility-specific initiatives. Our Clamart, France, facility is installing innovative technology for washing returnable glass bottles. This new equipment will no longer require hot, caustic water for sanitizing bottles, which will save an estimated 42 million liters of water each year.

To identify further opportunities for efficiencies, our production facilities use our water conservation toolkit — a computer-based program which allows facilities to collect data, benchmark their water use, and identify ways to improve their performance. We continue to provide ongoing water-efficiency training to managers of our facilities and management teams.

Responsible Wastewater Treatment

All wastewater that we release back to the natural environment must be appropriately treated and capable of supporting aquatic life. In 2008, we continued to fully meet this standard as 76 of our production facilities diverted approximately 15 billion liters of wastewater into municipal water treatment plants.

Three European facilities have their own treatment plants and release treated water to regulated bodies of water. As we improve our water efficiency, we are recycling and reusing water that was previously discarded. Consequently, we reduced the amount of wastewater we released by almost seven percent in 2008.

We are also exploring alternative ways to treat wastewater, such as the reed bed technology we are piloting in our Grigny, France, facility. This natural biological treatment system uses plants to absorb nutrients and reduce pollutants.

Collective Action

To magnify our efforts, we work with peer industries, sharing best practices and benchmarking our progress. In Great Britain, we were a founding member of the Federation House Commitment, a food and beverage industry pledge to reduce its water use by 20 percent by 2020. Launched in early 2008, “20 by 20” has been signed by 21 leading food and drink manufacturers.

Embedded Water Use

Under the CEO Water Mandate, we have committed to addressing water sustainability in our supply chain. Because the issue of embedded water use — the total amount of water used in the production of products — is still in its infancy, there is no universally accepted standard for calculating these impacts.

As a first step, we are working to better understand our embedded water footprint throughout our supply chain, especially as it relates to agriculture. In 2008, we launched a pilot study on embedded water footprint accounting and impact assessment together with the University of Twente in the Netherlands, the pioneers of water footprint methodology.

Protecting Our Watersheds

The sustainability of our business depends on the conservation and sustainable management of local watersheds. Our goal is to support watershed protection in every community where we operate.

Revitalizing Critical River Basins

Through The Coca-Cola Company’s partnership with the WWF, we actively participate in efforts to revitalize the U.S. Southeast Rivers and Streams and the Rio Grande, which the WWF named as two of the world’s most critical freshwater river basins. For example, we helped achieve a milestone in restoring the Rio Grande in 2008, by securing the first voluntary suspension and transfer of surface water rights. Previously, the surface flows at the Rio Grande’s Elephant Butte were used for irrigating farmland; now they will help sustain more than 300 acres of wetland and floodplain vegetation.

In the southeast U.S., we are working closely with the Alabama Clean Water Partnership and Auburn University on rainwater harvesting programs that recycle our 55-gallon syrup barrels for use as rain barrels throughout Alabama, designing rain gardens and bioretention sites for stormwater and stream restoration.

Developing Local Partnerships

Across our business, our facilities are developing partnerships and programs that contribute to watershed protection in their communities.

In Canada, the Coca-Cola system has made a four-year, US$1 million commitment to WWF-Canada to develop freshwater expertise and a nationwide freshwater strategy. Within the Skeena watershed in British Columbia, we will work with the First Nations communities, forestry companies, and other parties to undertake conservation planning.

Other initiatives include:

• We constructed our first two rain gardens in 2008 in Kentucky and Illinois. By filtering storm-water runoff from concrete areas such as parking lots, these gardens help prevent pollution downstream while recharging the aquifer. As these rain gardens are some of the first in their communities, these projects also serve to raise community awareness (see case study below).
• We are also scaling up our support of rainwater harvesting in our communities. Following the success of our partnership with River Network, local NGOs, and authorities in Baltimore, Maryland, we expanded this project to provide concentrate barrels to community organizations across North America in 2008. These barrels are used by local residents to collect rainwater to use instead of tap water for washing cars or irrigating landscapes (see photo on page 20).
• In Chaudfontaine, Belgium, we are protecting the slate and limestone aquifer that filters the water and ensures its mineral balance. As part of a five-year study of pollution risks, we have been working with community partners to define the protection area and identify risks. A project has been implemented to carry out 300 suggested local protection measures between 2008 and 2014.

Public Policy Advocacy

In North America, we supported the passage of the Great Lakes–St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact in 2008. This groundbreaking legislation was created to protect the Great Lakes, one of the world’s largest sources of fresh water. We also help policymakers promote sustainable water management, participating in Sustainable Atlanta, Georgia’s working group on water.

Online

• U.N. Global Compact CEO Water Mandate
• World Wildlife Fund
• University of Twente Water Footprint Study