Coca-Cola Europacific Partners is working with water technology firm Ecolab to advance water stewardship at two of its production facilities. Kim Berry writes.
With the recent – and frequent – flooding experienced in parts of Australia, the impacts of two consecutive La Nina phases, and the east coast having four intense weather systems since February, talking about water scarcity and preservation can be challenging.
But water stewardship – the sustainable management of the water catchment in collaboration with stakeholders – is a long game.
Chair of Water Stewardship Asia Pacific and CEO of sustainability consulting firm Cress Consulting Julia Seddon says, “Water stewardship is not water conservation, it isn’t water efficiency, and it isn’t traditional water management or even water quality. It is all these things and more.”
For Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP), water is a critical part of its business.
CCEP vice president of Public Affairs, Communications and Sustainability Lisa Rippon Lee says, “Water is the main ingredient in our products, essential to our manufacturing processes and critical to ensuring a sustainable supply of the agricultural ingredients we depend upon.
“Our stewardship of this precious resource is not only a key pillar of our sustainability strategy, it is something our manufacturing teams proactively implement each day.”
Rippon Lee explains that CCEP adopted a value chain approach to water stewardship, focusing on water efficiency within our own operations.
The company recently partnered with water technology company Ecolab, with the goal of optimising water efficiency at CCEP’s largest production facility at Richlands, Queensland.
The $165 million Richlands site was opened in October 2018. It is 30,000 square metres, has 10 production lines and produces 320 SKUs including carbonated soft drinks, post mix, water and flavoured water, Powerade, as well as dairy, alcohol and energy drinks.
The facility also has one of the largest rooftop solar systems in Queensland, with 3064 panels providing energy for its needs.
In turning the focus to water management, Ecolab and CCEP created a roadmap that will see Richlands save more than 282 million litres of water each year, reducing water usage at the site by 37.8 per cent.
“We will also save more than 258 million litres of wastewater, 1500 tonnes of greenhouse gases, and 9000 gigajoules of energy annually,” Rippon Lee says.
CCEP also turned its attention to its Northmead plant in Sydney, New South Wales, to continue driving improvements to the facility’s Water-Usage-Ratio.
“At Northmead, clean water from two of our beverage blenders is currently being collected, treated, and re-used.
“We’re also actively collecting rainwater at the site that we can use sustainably for washdown activities that are critical to food safety,” she says.
These two initiatives reduce Northmead’s annual water usage by two Olympic-sized swimming pools, 2.5 million litres, per year.
This story first appeared in the August issue of Food & Drink Business magazine.
