Weibin Zhu
Case Western Reserve University - Weatherhead School of Management
Ron Fry
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Water resource management is essential for the Coca-Cola business and also for communities. This Water Replenishment Project focused on source water protection, sustainable agriculture, ecosystem assessment, and environmental education.
As a company providing drinks, Coca-Cola emphasizes the protection of water sources for society as an important part of their sustainable development plans. Their Water Replenishment Project started in 2007. Together with the World Wildlife Foundation (WWF), they helped local farmers to build artificial wetlands as water filters. A lot of technical training was provided to farmers, so they learned to use mint, aromatic herbs, and solar insect-catching plates to deal with insects instead of using insecticides that damage the environment. When the first batch of people who worked on organic farms made their profits successfully, more and more farmers began to switch to using organic farming with the help of the Coca-Cola company.
In 2017, working with local governments, they also helped the rural tourist industry, or homestays, in Jiangsu to use the corner spaces around the house to build artificial mini-wetlands to treat sewage water. The rivers are clean and clear again, and the farmers gained more customers from cities because of the improved environments. As of now, 30 demo sites have been set up. This has proven to be quite reproducible. Ms. Zhang said, “At first people thought it’s crazy to spend more than 100,000 RMB to build up a mini-wetland around their house. But after they saw the amazing water-cleaning effect of the wetlands, especially when they found it brought more business for those people who built up the first batch of mini-wetlands, they started to ask each other, 'when will you build it?'”
By 2016, they had replenished 25.2 billion liters of water in China, the equivalent of 157% of the water used in Coca-Cola China’s finished beverages in the same year. By protecting the surrounding rivers, this innovation provides clean water and sanitation for everyone and ensures good health and well-being. Building organic farms and supporting eco-friendly rural tourism also help rural communities become more sustainable.
Water replenishment and source water protection have been one of the main targets for sustainability at Coca-Cola. Ms. Zhang emphasized, “100% Water Replenishment is our promise. We already achieved that goal in 2015.” Previously, they had a program to cleanse the river water for a few years. But very soon they found that although the upstream water was clean and clear after their work, the waste water kept pouring into the river from the people living along the river. Therefore, they started to realize that education about environmental protection is important. “We must motivate the farmers and involve them into this program. That’s the beginning of this project,” said Ms. Zhang.
They taught and helped the local farmers to build organic farms. In this way, the rivers are protected and the local farmers also benefit financially. After the farmers understood that this was for their own good to protect the environment, they devoted themselves to it actively.
For example, a green tea plantation that was almost broke 10 years ago finally realized that the ecological environment was the key to the business's survival. The Coca-Cola Water Replenishment Project worked with WWF in 2013, helping them build a water-saving irrigation system and artificial wetland. The tea plantation kept developing, and their certified organic tea is in great demand in Malaysia. Ever since then, farmers make an effort to maintain the eco-friendly farming practices because they are crucial for their business.
Short-term effects: The rivers stay clean for a longer time, and people along the rivers and downstream benefit from the clean water and better environment, both physically and economically.
Long-term effects: After the local people improved their environmental awareness, their spirit of ownership also increased and they started to make their own efforts toward environmental stewardship.
Within years, this innovation has proven to be easy to copy and maintain. ore and more provinces are applying this model.
Up to now, the innovation has already set up about 30 demonstration sites of artificial wetland throughout the country, mainly located along the Yangtze River, Yellow River, and Pearl River Basin. The improvement of the water quality is crucial to the whole country.
As a business producing beverages, water safety is crucial to the company. Devoting themselves to water replenishment to ensure the reliability and safety of their raw material—water—is an important strategy.
After the river was cleaned and the environment grew even more beautiful due to the artificial mini-wetlands, more visitors began to come. In addition to the increase in rural tourism, consumption of food and beverage products also increased, which will benefit the local farmers as well as the beverage business. Moreover, it is also a good way to expand the market to vast rural areas.
From ancient times to the present, the Chinese people have viewed the Yangtze River and Yellow River as their “Mother River.” The employees of the business will be proud of their jobs, knowing their company is doing such a meaningful thing for the country and communities. This increases their loyalty to the company. Ms. Zhang added, “Coca-Cola is the first company in the top 500 who achieved 100% water replenishment. It’s even 5 years ahead of schedule. Many of our employees are so proud of it.”
The rivers impacted by this innovation are by far the top two longest rivers in Asia and flow across the entire country. Their river basins are home to more than half of the country’s population, and agricultural products from these areas supply the entire nation. Therefore, the protection of the waters of these rivers is critical to everyone. In recent years, the rivers have suffered from industrial pollution, agricultural run-off, and loss of wetlands and lakes. This innovation helps local farmers to build mini-wetlands to treat sewage water and be motivated to participate in environmental protection for their own good. In this way, the effects of source water protection can be maintained.
This innovation also helps develop local economies. Farmers have greater incomes by selling organic food or developing rural tourism. Ms. Zhang said: “The farmers also used the mini-wetlands as their branding strategy. They called the mini-wetlands their gardens and made the tour around them a part of the sightseeing activities for their homestay guests.”
More provinces are inspired by this innovation and are starting to use this model in their own regions. Since 2011, more than five provinces have tried out this innovation successfully. More and more people are benefiting from this innovation.
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Huaying Zhang, Vice President for Sustainability in the Greater China and Korea Region
In mainland China, Coca-Cola offers consumers a wide variety of choices through over 70 beverage products under 16 brands. To help consumers make the beverage choices that are right for them, Coca-Cola actively provides transparent nutrition and calorie information to fulfill the needs of their consumers at different occasions and with different lifestyles.