Coca-Cola Releases 2011/2012 Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability Report
By Canadian Packaging Staff
Sustainability Coca-Cola Coca-Cola Enterprises Coke corporate responsibility ECO Plastics sustainability reportReport details company-wide carbon and water footprint reductions and progress against sustainability plan.
Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE) has released its seventh company-wide corporate responsibility and sustainability (CRS) report, “How can a drink build a more sustainable tomorrow?”
The plan defines the company’s new sustainability vision, commitments and more challenging targets as it seeks to grow its business while building a more sustainable tomorrow.
The report demonstrates how CCE is delivering against its thirty seven targets in each of its seven CRS focus areas: energy and climate change; sustainable packaging and recycling; water stewardship; product portfolio; active healthy living; community, and; workplace.There is more of a focus on energy and climate change, and sustainable packaging and recycling, and addresses how the company plans to innovate for the future.
“We have made important progress in the past year to reduce our water and carbon impacts while growing our business,” says John F. Brock, chairman and chief executive officer. “We know that taking broader accountability across our value chain is the right thing to do, and to create a more sustainable tomorrow, we will work even more closely with customers, suppliers and other partners.”
Key 2011/2012 progress includes reducing carbon emissions from the manufacture, distribution and cooling of CCE’s products by 8.4 percent while growing volume by 3.5 percent, and reducing the company’s water use ratio by 13 percent since 2007. In 2011, CCE announced a plastics recycling joint venture with ECO Plastics in Great Britain which, when operational, will enable the company to include 25 per cent rPET (recycled Polyethylene terephthalate) in all its plastic packaging in Great Britain this year.
“As we move forward on our CRS journey, we realize that we don’t have all the answers,” adds Brock. “Innovation and collaboration with our stakeholders is key, particularly in the context of the macroeconomic and societal challenges we continue to face. In partnership with our stakeholders, we seek to continue developing CRS solutions that benefit our company, our industry and society at large.”
2011/2012 CCE CRS Report Highlights:
- Grew volume by 3.5 percent, while reducing emissions from manufacturing, distribution and the cooling of products by 8.6 percent;
- Became the first soft drinks company to receive the Carbon Trust Standard Award, receiving the best-ever score out of 675 companies;
- Certified three manufacturing sites to the new energy management standard, ISO 5000, with the company’s plant at Wakefield, Great Britain, becoming the first in the food and beverage industry to achieve this certification;
- Invested US$23-million of capital expenditure on carbon reduction projects, such as solar panels installed on the roof of a new green distribution center in Belgium and at three sites in Great Britain;
- Invited to join the EU Corporate Leaders Group on Climate Change to demonstrate the support of business for the European Union to move to a low-carbon society;
- Launched a ‘Carbon Challenge’, in which 129 of CCE’s suppliers were surveyed on their carbon performance and asked to implement reduction plans;
- Reduced the amount of water required to make 1 liter of product to 1.43 liters – a reduction of 13 percent since 2007;
- Introduced PlantBottle – incorporating plastic from plant-based material – across all territories to popular 500ml PET Coca-Cola, Diet Coke and Coke Zero packages;
- Executed recycling programs at major summer festivals in France, Belgium and Great Britain, as well as with major retailers ASDA and Carrefour, reaching over 4.7 million consumers with recycling messaging;
- Launched water replenishment partnership with WWF-UK and The Coca-Cola Company focusing on improving water quality in river catchments in southeast England;
- Introduced Powerade Zero in France and started work on product reformulation to include plant-based sweetener stevia into some drinks.
The report can be accessed at: www.ccesustainabilityplan.com/crsreport2011-12.
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