The beverage and bottling industries depend on water for their production. Therefore, as part of these sectors, the effects of climate change on these important resources are of significant concern for us.
For this reason, under our ESG Impact Strategy, we have committed to maximize the value of our shared water resources by being responsible in our used of water inside the business and by helping our communities to access and better manage their water resources. We aim to do this through two main goals for 2030 which will be driven by three different action plans
PNUD Project
Algeria
In order to support the country after the devastation of the fires during the summer of 2021, ECCBC, in partnership with The Coca-Cola Company and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), is carrying out a project that aims to drive torrential correction works in the region of Bouira in order to limit the damage linked to floods and to set up dams and water reservoirs in order to retain the flows and limit their destructive effect on ecosystems.
Through this project we aim to impact:
13,000 beneficiaries
201,240.6 M3 replenished water
WasteWater Treatment Plants
Morocco
Algeria
Ghana
In order to pursue our goals to improve water use efficiency and use 100% local replenishment of water in our beverages by 2030 and preserve the watershed we conducted a feasibility study to further reuse our treated effluent.
Water Efficiency Catalogue
In 2021, as part of the Coca-Cola worldwide workshop, ECCBC alongside our Coca-Cola System partners, developed a Water Maturity Matrix tool to be able to evaluate the degree of maturity when using our water resources.
In this workshop, we also create a Water targeting estimator. This tool allows us to set targets using science-based data versus the industry standards.
RAIN Project
Millions of people across the world lack access to safe drinking water and to major sanitation infrastructures. This issue is particularly stark in Africa, and in response, we have joined hands with our partners to improve access to water and build sanitation infrastructures across our territories.
One of the projects that Equatorial Coca-Cola has invested in is the Coca-Cola Foundation’s Replenish Africa Initiative (RAIN), which aimed to improve access to clean water for 6 million people in Africa by 2020. Through RAIN, we have invested in water infrastructures, in order to bring clean water closer to at-risk populations. Even though the project formally ended in 2020, some initiatives were ongoing throughout 2021.
To date, through 23 projects across nine of Equatorial Coca-Cola’s countries and 1,029 communities, RAIN has reached:
572,498 people
With improved water access, sanitation and hygiene (WASH)
118,631 women and youth
Empowered and helped to improve the management of 1,177 hectares of land
2,139 ML of water
Returned per year to communities and nature
17,660 people
In 2021, two projects were completed in Algeria (UNDP) and Sierra Leone (CRS) to reach 17,660 people, benefit 9,796 women and youth, and improve the management of 6 hectares of land in these two countries.