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Coca-Cola works to upgrade water quality for better sodas
August 24, 2010, Tuesday
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THE Yangtze River - the longest river in Asia and the lifeblood of millions of Chinese - was once said to be so clear you could see the bottom.
Today, as China's massive economic growth takes its toll on the environment, it is at the top of the list of the 10 most-threatened rivers in the world, according to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
To help reverse the tide, the WWF has joined forces with Coca-Cola Co to improve the water quality of the upper reaches of the Yangtze.
One project, for example, has them working with farmers to reduce the runoff of animal waste into the river by turning pig waste into biogas, a type of fuel that can be used for cooking and heating.
Another involves searching for ways for the multinational to be more efficient in its own use of water.
The non-profit's partnership with Coca-Cola is part of a growing corporate awareness that water is a threatened resource, not just in the Yangtze but throughout the world.
Companies that require a lot of water to make their products are beginning to assess the risks that they - and their customers - face on the water-supply front and what can be done to mitigate them.
Advantages
For environmental groups, such alliances add clout to their projects, an important factor in drumming up support and funding from the general public and other corporations.
For companies, such undertakings bolster their image and brand.
Alliances like that between Coca-Cola and the WWF don't come without challenges.
The Yangtze provides China with 35 percent of its fresh water.
Yet nearly half of the country's sewage and industrial waste is discharged into the river as it flows 6,280 kilometers from West China to the East China Sea at Shanghai.
Many dams on the river also weakened its ability to flush away pollution.
So-called non-point source pollution, including animal waste and fertilizer runoff, is as big a threat as industrial waste, or even bigger, notes Chris Williams, director of fresh water conservation at the WWF.
The WWF-Coca-Cola partnership has run pilot projects to produce biogas with farmers living at the upper reaches of the Yangtze in communities along the Minjiang and Jialing rivers. Coca-Cola has also launched a communication program to educate communities along the river basin about environmental issues.
The partnership, meanwhile, liaises with the Chinese government to add its voices to environmental policy-making.
Sustainability
Behind all the environmental partnerships are worries about the growing vulnerability of big companies to an uncertain water supply.
One of the problems in assessing vulnerability is that companies tend to focus only on their own usage.
Coca-Cola's involvement has helped the WWF play a bigger role at the Yangtze River Forum, a bi-annual conference for various stakeholders.
The multinational invited its industry peers to participate in a special meeting for the private sector at the forum.
One result was that the companies agreed on a united recommendation to deliver to the Chinese government for implementing pollution regulation.
There is plenty still to do. Coca-Cola is now working with the WWF, for example, to reduce water use in its supply chains through the Better Sugar Cane Initiative.
Since the company uses 4 percent of the world's sugar, one of the goals of the partnership in China is to find an entry point to work with the Chinese sugar industry.
The goal is not to tell farmers or millers how to run their operations, but rather to improve production methods and reduce water use, according to Kevin Ogorzalek, the WWF's global coordinator of the sugar cane program.
(Reproduced with permission from Knowledge@Wharton, http://www.knowledgeatwharton.com.cn. All rights reserved. Shanghai Daily condensed the article.)
Today, as China's massive economic growth takes its toll on the environment, it is at the top of the list of the 10 most-threatened rivers in the world, according to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
To help reverse the tide, the WWF has joined forces with Coca-Cola Co to improve the water quality of the upper reaches of the Yangtze.
One project, for example, has them working with farmers to reduce the runoff of animal waste into the river by turning pig waste into biogas, a type of fuel that can be used for cooking and heating.
Another involves searching for ways for the multinational to be more efficient in its own use of water.
The non-profit's partnership with Coca-Cola is part of a growing corporate awareness that water is a threatened resource, not just in the Yangtze but throughout the world.
Companies that require a lot of water to make their products are beginning to assess the risks that they - and their customers - face on the water-supply front and what can be done to mitigate them.
Advantages
For environmental groups, such alliances add clout to their projects, an important factor in drumming up support and funding from the general public and other corporations.
For companies, such undertakings bolster their image and brand.
Alliances like that between Coca-Cola and the WWF don't come without challenges.
The Yangtze provides China with 35 percent of its fresh water.
Yet nearly half of the country's sewage and industrial waste is discharged into the river as it flows 6,280 kilometers from West China to the East China Sea at Shanghai.
Many dams on the river also weakened its ability to flush away pollution.
So-called non-point source pollution, including animal waste and fertilizer runoff, is as big a threat as industrial waste, or even bigger, notes Chris Williams, director of fresh water conservation at the WWF.
The WWF-Coca-Cola partnership has run pilot projects to produce biogas with farmers living at the upper reaches of the Yangtze in communities along the Minjiang and Jialing rivers. Coca-Cola has also launched a communication program to educate communities along the river basin about environmental issues.
The partnership, meanwhile, liaises with the Chinese government to add its voices to environmental policy-making.
Sustainability
Behind all the environmental partnerships are worries about the growing vulnerability of big companies to an uncertain water supply.
One of the problems in assessing vulnerability is that companies tend to focus only on their own usage.
Coca-Cola's involvement has helped the WWF play a bigger role at the Yangtze River Forum, a bi-annual conference for various stakeholders.
The multinational invited its industry peers to participate in a special meeting for the private sector at the forum.
One result was that the companies agreed on a united recommendation to deliver to the Chinese government for implementing pollution regulation.
There is plenty still to do. Coca-Cola is now working with the WWF, for example, to reduce water use in its supply chains through the Better Sugar Cane Initiative.
Since the company uses 4 percent of the world's sugar, one of the goals of the partnership in China is to find an entry point to work with the Chinese sugar industry.
The goal is not to tell farmers or millers how to run their operations, but rather to improve production methods and reduce water use, according to Kevin Ogorzalek, the WWF's global coordinator of the sugar cane program.
(Reproduced with permission from Knowledge@Wharton, http://www.knowledgeatwharton.com.cn. All rights reserved. Shanghai Daily condensed the article.)
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