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The Coca-Cola Company Releases 2007/2008 Sustainability Review
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ATLANTA,GA – October 29, 2008 / -- DiversityBusiness.com /- The Coca-Cola Company announced the release of its fifth annual Sustainability Review, which profiles its commitment to growing its business in an economically, environmentally and socially sustainable way.The 2007/2008 Sustainability Review, entitled "Act. Inspire. Make a Difference. A dialogue of progress and possibility," is available online at: www.sustainability.thecoca-colacompany.com.
The Review outlines the connection between the Company's ability to make a difference in communities and its business through sustainable practices; highlights progress against key performance metrics within the four pillars of its system-wide sustainability framework – Workplace, Marketplace, Environment and Community; and reports on the Company's progress against Global Reporting Initiative(TM)indicators and United Nations Global Compact principles.
"For our Company and our bottling partners, sustainability reflects an understanding of the role our business must play in society if we are to be successful in the 21st century," President and CEO Muhtar Kent wrote in the Review's introduction: "This understanding is expressed in our renewed focus on productivity and efficiency, the goals we have set as a system, and the ways in which we are engaging with stakeholders and communities on issues such as water stewardship; energy management and climate protection; sustainable packaging; active, healthy living; workplace rights; and community development."
Stakeholder feedback influenced the development of the Review content. The Review is comprised of the following content:
- Summary of the Company and the Coca-Cola system performance and progress in the areas of workplace, marketplace, environment and community.
- Review of challenges and opportunities for the Company and its corporate reporting.
- Overview of the Company's Workplace Rights Policy, Human Rights Statement and Supplier Guiding Principles, which reflect the Company's values and commitment to international human and labor rights principles.
- Summary of environmental performance in the areas of water stewardship, energy management and climate protection and sustainable packaging.
Highlights of sustainability initiatives in six of the Company's global operating groups
Overview of the Coca-Cola system global quality management system.
Illustrated outline of The Coca-Cola Company value cycle.
Some highlights of the Company and the Coca-Cola system performance from the 2007/2008 Sustainability Review include:
- Launched more than 150 low- and no-calorie drinks in 2007, increasing its portfolio of low- and no-calorie beverages to more than 700 beverage products.
- Spent $366 million with diverse suppliers (first- and second-tier minority- and womenowned businesses) in 2007, a 23-percent increase over 2006.
- Invested $40 million to build the world’s largest PET bottle-to-bottle recycling plant. Expected to be operational in 2009 in Spartanburg, South Carolina, the plant will produce approximately 100 million pounds of PET plastic for reuse each year (the equivalent of 2 billion 20-ounce PET bottles).
- Achieved a 2 percent improvement in water use efficiency. Coca-Cola plants used an average of 2.47 liters of water to make one liter of beverage. Since 2002, the Coca-Cola system has improved water use efficiency by more than 20-percent, saving more than 160 billion liters of water.
- Announced plans to purchase and put into service 100,000 coolers that use CO2 as a refrigerant gas by the end of 2010 – the largest deployment of this new technology by anyone in the industry to date.
- Created more than 7,500 jobs in East Africa through the Company’s Manual Distribution Centers program, which has helped start more than 1,800 small distribution businesses and generated more than $500 million in revenue.
- Made $99 million in charitable contributions from The Coca-Cola Company and The Coca-Cola Foundation, funding programs in the areas of community and economic development, education, health and wellness, environment, arts and culture, disaster relief, and HIV/AIDS.
- Making the "America's Top Organizations for Multicultural Business Opportunities"-Award from DiversityBusiness.com for eight consecutive years.
- Increased its supplier audits by 28-percent for a total of 1,313 audits in 2007, over its 1,029 audits in 2006.
The Company seeks dialogue around this report and encourages action from its key stakeholders, associates, bottling partners, customers, consumers and community members.
The Company is committed to developing greater transparency in its reporting and improving the quality and quantity of the data reported. Feedback on the report is welcomed and may be sent to: sustainability@na.ko.com.
The Coca-Cola Company is the world's largest beverage company, refreshing consumers with more than 450 sparkling and still brands. Along with Coca-Cola, recognized as the world's most valuable brand, the Company's portfolio includes 12 other billion dollar brands, including Diet Coke, Fanta, Sprite, Coca-Cola Zero, vitaminwater, PowerAde, Minute Maid and Georgia Coffee. Globally, we are the No. 1 provider of sparkling beverages, juices and juice drinks and ready-to-drink teas and coffees. Through the world's largest beverage distribution system, consumers in more than 200 countries enjoy the Company's beverages at a rate of 1.5 billion servings a day. With an enduring commitment to building sustainable communities, our Company is focused on initiatives that protect the environment, conserve resources and enhance the economic development of the communities where we operate. For more information about our Company, please visit our Web site at www.thecoca-colacompany.com.
For more information please contact:
Dana Bolden, Media relations
The Coca-Cola Company
(404) 676-2683
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