Coca-Cola revises environmental goals amid scrutiny
By Felicia Nwosu
Coca-Cola has responded to criticism surrounding adjustments to its environmental objectives, unveiling a revised set of targets focused on emissions, packaging, and water conservation.
Coca-Cola strategic move to adjust its environmental roadmap, demonstrates its focus on making meaningful progress in sustainability, addressing both industry challenges and global expectations. The beverage giant, known for brands like Sprite and Diet Coke, has extended its sustainability goals from 2030 to 2035, drawing attention from environmental advocates.
According to Just Drinks, the company emphasised Coca-Cola’s commitment to tackling pressing environmental challenges.
“We are prioritizing efforts to enhance water security in high-risk areas, minimize packaging waste, and reduce emissions. These issues are complex and require additional time and resources to make a substantial impact.”
Under the new framework, Coca-Cola aims to align its Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions with a 1.5°C climate trajectory, using 2019 as the baseline. This replaces the previous target of a 25 percent reduction by 2030, measured against a 2015 benchmark.
The company described the shift as a reflection of updated and more accurate data, highlighting the importance of focusing on areas where it can drive significant change.
It outlined some key strategies to reduce emissions include investing in energy-efficient cooling systems, increasing reliance on renewable energy, incorporating recycled materials into packaging, and collaborating with suppliers to lower their carbon output.
It stated that packaging remains a critical focus for Coca-Cola. While the company had previously set a goal for all packaging to be recyclable by 2025, its latest report indicates that 90 percent of its packaging met this standard in both 2022 and 2023.
The company has also adjusted its objective for using recycled materials. Instead of aiming for 50 percent recycled content by 2030, Coca-Cola is now working toward reducing its reliance on virgin plastic by 3 million metric tons by 2025, compared to 2020 levels.
Meanwhile, it said that efforts to increase the use of refillable and returnable containers continue, with a target of 25 percent of beverage sales in reusable packaging by 2030. The most recent figures show that 14 percent of Coca-Cola’s beverage volume was sold in reusable formats in 2023, consistent with the previous year.
In its quest to promote circularity, Coca-Cola also seeks to recover and recycle a bottle or can for every unit it sells by 2030. The company reported collecting 62 percent of the bottles and cans it introduced to the market in 2023, a modest increase from 61 percent in 2022
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