In 2007, the UN Global Compact launched the CEO Water Mandate, intended to help companies launch and implement water sustainability initiatives. The Mandate asks CEOs to recognize their company’s impact on the planet’s water supply, and prioritize water sustainability highly among all of their efforts.
Coca-Cola is one endorser of this Mandate, and has continuously improved water efficiency over the last decade. The company measures its water use on the aggregate and based on how many liters of water it takes to make one liter of product. In 2008 it took Coke 2.9 liters of water to create one liter of soda, and only 2.36 liters by 2009. They aim to reduce this ratio to 2.16:1 by next year.
In addition to reducing the amount of water consumed in the manufacturing process, Coke has looked towards outputs of water as well. The water that they use in their manufacturing is recycled through a treatment process to meet or exceed regulatory standards, and then released into the environment. In 2009, they released 179 billion liters, and 89 percent of system facilities were compliant with internally created wastewater standards. The remaining plants are aimed to be in compliance by the end of this year.
To read more about the CEO Water Mandate, visit the article on the UN Global Compact website. Click here to read Coke’s full 2009 Water Use and Efficiency report.