FOCUS Coca-Cola
FOCUS Coca-Cola Beverages South Africa’s purpose is to refresh our country and make it a better place for all Sustainable solutions through collaboration and co-creation. Coca-Cola Beverages South Africa (CCBSA) is a proud industry leader in developing increasingly sustainable ways to manufacture, distribute and sell its products. It uses its industry leadership to be part of the solution to achieve positive change in the world and to build a more sustainable future for the planet. Its aim is to create greater shared opportunity for the business and the communities the company serves across the value chain. Opportunity is more than just money, it’s about a better future for people and communities everywhere in South Africa. CCBSA believes in growing its business the right way, not just the easy way. This helps create inclusive growth opportunities for linked communities, women and youth, customers, its employees and shareholders, for a better shared future. CCBSA is committed to building economic inclusion and sustainability solutions that benefit its stakeholders, in particular, the communities in which the company is invested. It does this through collaboration and co-creation of sustainable solutions. CCBSA has an important relationship with water. Tell us more... Water is a priority for the Coca-Cola system because it is essential to life, our beverages and the communities the company serves. The Coca-Cola Company’s 2030 Water Security Strategy focuses on increasing water security by investing in water initiatives that benefit nature and communities. This includes projects that provide benefits to local watersheds that supply water for drinking, agriculture and manufacturing, restore and conserve habitats for plants and animals, and offer opportunities for local economic development. CCBSA is focused on accelerating the actions needed to increase water security where it operates, sources ingredients and touches people’s lives. It does that by contributing toward sustainable, clean water access that improves livelihoods and wellbeing while protecting against water-related disasters. As part of the Coca-Cola system, it has set three key goals designed to achieve its vision: • Achieve 100% regenerative water use across our facilities in areas identified as facing high KWAZULU-NATAL BUSINESS 2024/25 18
levels of water stress by 2030 • Improve the health of watersheds identified as most critical for our operations and agricultural supply chain by 2030 • Continue to return water to nature and communities. Ensuring the health of watersheds is a major part of this. In parts of the Eastern Cape Province in South Africa, CCBSA launched an ambitious project to work with the local municipality and other key stakeholders to assist vulnerable and distressed communities. CCBSA deployed off-grid, solar-powered groundwater harvesting and treatment projects called Cokevilles in the region. Late last year, it unveiled a R12-million groundwater harvesting Cokeville project, to supply the entire town of Graaff Reinet in the Eastern Cape with potable water. What is A World Without Waste? CCBSA seeks to drive a circular economy for its packaging because this helps to reduce waste and carbon emissions. The company is working to use more recycled content in our packaging, to expand its use of returnable bottles, and to collect packaging for recycling through The Coca-Cola Company’s World Without Waste initiative. To galvanise collective action, it invests in solutions and partnerships across industry, governments and society. This includes companies within key industry sectors that can help drive the transition to a circular economy. The Coca-Cola Company and its bottling partners, including Coca-Cola Beverages South Africa, are leading the industry in making our value chain increasingly sustainable in the way that it produces and package its products. As a system, it has the following global goals: • Help collect a bottle or can for every one it sells by 2030 • Focus on making all its packaging 100% recyclable by 2025 • Have 50% recycled content in our packaging by 2030 • Make 25% of its packaging reusable (returnable) by 2030 Furthermore, the company is working to use more recycled content in its bottles and has expanded the use of clear and returnable bottles. This includes the introduction and rollout of returnable 2L plastic bottles in South Africa. According to CCBSA: “People matter. Our planet matters. We believe in doing business the right way by following our values and working toward solutions that benefit us all.” ■ 19
