{"id":13126,"date":"2016-11-04T17:22:57","date_gmt":"2016-11-04T21:22:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digital.hbs.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/coca-colas-path-to-sustainability\/"},"modified":"2016-11-04T17:22:57","modified_gmt":"2016-11-04T21:22:57","slug":"coca-colas-path-to-sustainability","status":"publish","type":"hck-submission","link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/coca-colas-path-to-sustainability\/","title":{"rendered":"Coca-Cola\u2019s Path to Sustainability"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>With an iconic brand and impressive portfolio of over 500 beverage brands, The Coca-Cola Company is the largest beverage company in the world. Aside from its flagship product, Coca-Cola, the Company also houses common household beverage brand names such as Sprite, Fanta, vitaminwater, Honest Tea and Simply Orange. More than 1.9 billion servings of Coca-Cola beverages are enjoyed by consumers in more than 200 countries around the world each day [2].<\/p>\n<p>Climate change poses several risks to Coca-Cola\u2019s manufacturing process and operating model. These include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The increasing scarcity of water, the main ingredient in substantially all of Coca-Cola\u2019s products<\/li>\n<li>Disruptions in the supply of key agricultural commodities integral to the production process (e.g. corn, sugarcane, sugar) caused by shifting weather patterns and decreased land productivity<\/li>\n<li>Carbon footprint and other environmental impact of Coca-Cola\u2019s manufacturing and transportation operations<\/li>\n<li>Impact of climate change on the resilience in communities where water availability and food security are critical to the prosperity of Coca-Cola\u2019s customers [3].<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>These risks present long-term implications that may impact the Company\u2019s manufacturing processes, disrupt their supply chain, alter end-consumer demand, and adversely affect Coca-Cola\u2019s bottom line.<\/p>\n<p><strong>An Enthused Response in Water and Energy Efficiency<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Over the years, Coca-Cola has undertaken several efforts to address the increasing threat of climate change, primarily in the areas of water conservation and energy efficiency.<\/p>\n<p>Through a series of robust water stewardship and management programs to-date, Coca-Cola has invested $2 billion to reduce water use and improve water quality in the communities in which it operates [4]. Earlier this year, the Company announced that through close collaboration with local and global partners, they have met their goal of replenishing the equivalent amount of water used in their global sales volume back to nature and communities, equating to 191.9 billion liters of water through 248 community water projects in 71 countries [5].<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium\" src=\"http:\/\/www.coca-colacompany.com\/stories\/environment\/2014\/collaborating-to-replenish-the-water-we-use\/_jcr_content\/articleBody\/par1\/image\/promoImage.img.png\/1472240355446.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"351\" height=\"308\" \/><\/p>\n<p>These efforts in water management were supplemented by efforts to increase energy efficiency in three principal activities of the Coca-Cola business system: manufacturing plants, distribution fleet, and cold drink equipment. In its manufacturing plants, the Company is systematically evaluating the type of energy consumed in its manufacturing processes, and investing in efficient lighting, compressor optimization, heat recovery and renewable energy. While the total amount of energy consumed by manufacturing sites has grown, the Company\u2019s energy efficiency ratio (the amount of megajoules used per liter of product) has improved over time. This improvement resulted in over $600 million cumulative savings in energy costs since 2004. The Company has made similar investments in its fleet composition (shifting to a fleet of hybrid delivery trucks that are significant more energy efficient than traditional trucks) and innovations in refrigeration technology (phasing out HFC use in refrigeration and insulation) as well [6].<\/p>\n<p><strong>Looking Forward<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In September 2016, the Company announced that it has reduced water use by 2.1 billion liters in the past two years and reduced its carbon footprint by 1.07 million metric tons. It simultaneously announced a commitment to using 40% clean energy and recovering for recycling 40% of its packaging introduced to markets by 2020. Other environmental targets include: sourcing 20% of the total plastic PET it uses from recycled or renewable PET, reducing packing by 25% per liter of product produced, and certifying over 95% of its key agricultural ingredients against its Sustainable Agricultural Guiding Principles [7].<\/p>\n<p>Despite these advancements, much work is left to be done. Coca-Cola remains at risk to the agricultural impact of climate change. While we know that scientists at Coca-Cola are hard at work searching for a substitute for sugar in their concentrate formulas, the Company at this current point in time is far from insulated from agricultural risks. Much is left to be done, but Coca-Cola is well on its way to a more sustainable future.<\/p>\n<p>(664 Words)<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>[1] The New York Times. Industry Awakens to Threat of Climate Change. [ONLINE] Available at: http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2014\/01\/24\/science\/earth\/threat-to-bottom-line-spurs-action-on-climate.html?_r=0. [Accessed 04 November 2016].<\/p>\n<p>[2] The Coca-Cola Company. 2016. Coca-Cola At A Glance: Video and Infographic: The Coca-Cola Company. [ONLINE] Available at: http:\/\/www.coca-colacompany.com\/our-company\/infographic-coca-cola-at-a-glance. [Accessed 04 November 2016].<\/p>\n<p>[3] The Coca-Cola Company. December 31, 2015 Form 10-K (filed February 25, 2016). [Accessed 04 November 2016].<\/p>\n<p>[4] 性视界 Business Review. 2016. The Comprehensive Business Case for Sustainability. [ONLINE] Available at: https:\/\/hbr.org\/2016\/10\/the-comprehensive-business-case-for-sustainability. [Accessed 04 November 2016].<\/p>\n<p>[5] Washington Post. 2016. Coca-Cola just achieved a major environmental goal for its water use &#8211; The Washington Post. [ONLINE] Available at: https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/energy-environment\/wp\/2016\/08\/30\/coca-cola-just-achieved-a-major-environmental-goal-for-its-water-use\/. [Accessed 04 November 2016].<\/p>\n<p>[6] The Coca-Cola Company. 2016. Position Statement on Climate Protection: The Coca-Cola Company. [ONLINE] Available at: http:\/\/www.coca-colacompany.com\/stories\/position-statement-on-climate-protection. [Accessed 04 November 2016].<\/p>\n<p>[7] Environmental Leader. Coca-Cola HBC Targets 40% Packaging Recovery, 40% Clean Energy by 2020. 2016. [ONLINE] Available at: http:\/\/www.environmentalleader.com\/2016\/09\/30\/coca-cola-hbc-targets-40-packaging-recovery-40-clean-energy-by-2020\/#ixzz4P1DcQrct. [Accessed 04 November 2016].<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cIncreased droughts, more unpredictable variability, 100-year floods every two years\u2026When we look at our most essential ingredients, we see those events as threats.\u201d [1]<\/p>\n<p>Jeffrey Seabright, Vice President for Environment and Water Resources, The Coca-Cola Company<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1808,"featured_media":13157,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","categories":[],"class_list":["post-13126","hck-submission","type-hck-submission","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"connected_submission_link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/assignment\/climate-change-challenge-2016\/","yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Coca-Cola\u2019s Path to Sustainability - Technology and Operations Management<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/coca-colas-path-to-sustainability\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Coca-Cola\u2019s Path to Sustainability - 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