Quiz: How many liters of water does it take to produce a two-liter bottle of Coca-Cola?
Answer: 5.08
In response to criticism that the company contributes to water shortages in the emerging markets in which is operates, Coca-Cola announced a set of water-recycling and environmental initiatives with the goal of becoming “water neutral”.
The Company will focus its actions in three core areas: 1) reducing the water used to produce its beverages, 2) recycling water used for beverage manufacturing processes, and 3) replenishing water in communities and nature.
The pledge was announced at the annual meeting of WWF in Beijing, where the Company launched a multi-year partnership with WWF to conserve and protect freshwater resources. This $20 million (US) commitment from The Coca-Cola Company to WWF will be used to help conserve seven of the world’s most important freshwater river basins, support more efficient water management in its operations and global supply chain, and reduce the Company’s carbon footprint.
Commentary: Interesting initiative. We have been beaten over the head with “carbon neutral” (haven’t we all) over the past two years. However, this is the first that we have heard of “water neutral” (despite the fact that we are headquartered in the desert). We suspect that we will begin to hear a lot more about water neutral in the future and advise CEOs and CSR professionals to stay abreast of it. Just because the glaciers may be melting doesn’t necessarily mean that there will be enough clean water to go around!
