We consume only 0.023% of total water consumed by all industries in India. As a responsible user of water, our approach to water stewardship transcends our operations and extends to all communities. Our water stewardship programmes are based on the principle of Reduce, Reuse / Recycle and Replenish.

Reduce

We invest in best-in-class technology and optimise water usage in our manufacturing processes through recoveries, secondary use of water by stream segregation, and other water reduction interventions. Result: Our water use ratio (water consumed per litre of beverage produced) of our operations has improved over the years signalling that our operations are continuously becoming water efficient.

Recycle

Our factories (all of which are equipped with effluent treatment plants) recycle and reuse water to the extent possible in secondary applications like boiler make-up, cooling towers, gardening, toilet flushing and floor clearing. Rest of the water is returned to nature at a level that supports aquatic life. Result: Our factories treat 100% of the waste water.

Replenish

We have till date undertaken more than 300 water replenishment projects in collaboration with NGOs, local authorities and communities. These include construction of check dams, desilting and restoration of ponds and natural water bodies, rainwater harvesting, and building bunds and conservation tanks among others.
Result: 110% water replenishment potential created as compared to the total water used in our factories.

Some of our key water stewardship programmes include:

1. Integrated Watershed Management Project in Betul, Madhya Pradesh addressing the region’s water scarcity and high soil erosion problems
2. Construction of farm bunds, check dams and repair of percolation tanks in Nashik District, Maharashtra
3. Groundwater recharge projects in Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra
4. Rainwater harvesting projects in UP, Punjab, West Bengal, AP
5. Pond rejuvenation projects in UP and NCR

Our long-term vision is to leverage the scale and resources of our entire system to ensure that all our packaging material is reused and recycled to minimise its environment impact, while creating livelihood opportunities for waste collection workers.

Recover and Recycle

We offer our beverages in returnable glass bottles (RGBs), aluminium cans, PET bottles and tetra packs. Around 30% of our beverage sales come from RGBs which are fully recovered from the market (except for breakages). We also work with authorised collection agencies, NGOs, waste collectors and key account customers to recover PET waste which is then recycled by authorised processing agencies. One of our biggest contributions to the food and beverages industry in India is the large-scale adoption of PET bottle which is light weight, durable, economical, re-saleable and above all 100% recyclable.

Circular economy on plastics

HCCB has partnered with United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and several NGOs to gradually establish plastic waste collection programs in the top 50 cities of the country partnering NGOs, urban local bodies, pollution control boards, resident welfare associations and other stakeholders.

The program, in India, aims to create an end-to-end recycling ecosystem starting at the point of waste generation and connecting to the recyclers thereby creating a Circular Economy on plastics. The digital platform created for this purpose shall provide complete visibility, traceability and digital governance. The programme will engage and improve the lives of more than 37,500 safaii mitras by organising them into self-help groups for income generating activities and enterprise creation.

Having achieved the target of 40% of our energy requirements at factories through green, new or renewable energy in 2018, we are now geared up to raise the number to 50% by 2020.

We aim to achieve this by using solar power off the grid and through several other initiatives like adoption of briquettes - made out of agricultural waste like groundnuts and coconut shells - to power boilers, installation of solar rooftops, adoption of energy efficient technology and by progressively replacing bulbs and light sources in our factories by LED lights.

All our factories have effluent treatment plants, which ensures that water and waste generated at our units are treated and effectively reused. Going a step further, HCCB has also undertaken several initiatives outside its factories to ensure effective effluent and waste management. One such initiative is the partnership with Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) to set up a ‘Waste Water Recycling Sewage Treatment Plant.’ The project recycles used water for non-domestic purposes and helps save potable water. This initiative has become a catalyst for similar projects across the country.

Sustainable agriculture implies ensuring our agricultural suppliers meet relevant standards related to environment protection, responsible farm management and human and workplace rights. Our sustainable agricultural interventions are aimed at transforming the fruit and agricultural value chain in India, and the lives of lakhs of farmers who are part of our ecosystem.

Ultra High Density Plantation

Under the Unnati initiative, HCCB has partnered with Jain Irrigation to support mango and orange farmers in increasing their yield. The traditional practice is to grow large trees at every 10 metres approximately, which leads to loss in productivity over a period of time. The new-age technique of UHDP ensures that high yielding, low height mango trees are grown in less than 1/3rd the original area thereby increasing the productivity and income of farmers.

Ramesh Naidu reaping the benefits of Unnati UHDP project

Ramesh Naidu, a farmer from a small village in Chittoor District of Southern India, lives in a joint family along with his brothers, their spouses and children. Like every parent and head of family, he aspired to dream big for his and his brothers’ children. But this was almost impossible due to the severe drought that had afflicted his village around 15 years ago.

Like Naidu, many farmers across the country have been dependent on nature for their farm’s yield and often struggle to provide consistent and large amounts of produce. As a result, their output and agricultural income suffer.

But this son of soil bought 35 acres of land in his village from his major business savings in Bangalore. He bought an existing orchard of mangoes, but wanted to make agriculture more profitable. That’s when he decided to try the Ultra High Density Plantation (UHDP) programme under Project ‘Unnati’, a unique and sustainable agricultural practice.

Like the 1,000 farmers across Chittoor districtand many more states, Naidu is part of Project Unnati, a Coca-Cola India and Jain Irrigation initiative to increase productivity of the local mango crop. Jain Irrigation processes the mango pulp and is the largest supplier to Coca-Cola’s Maaza brand, which is now in its 40th year. Maaza uses Alphonso pulp which is sourced from farmers in Maharashtra and Gujarat.

Now, Naidu is hopeful that his 14-acre mango farm at Samireddypalli village, 12 km from Chittoor town in Andhra Pradesh, will yield five tonnes of mango per acre this year. Having taken up the UHDP programme three years ago, Naidu planted over 600 trees in an acre, compared with just 40 trees in the traditional practice, which yielded him just 1.5 tonnes of mangoes an acre.

The objective is to harness the higher productivity potential of mango farms to benefit all stakeholders in the ecosystem. Farmers gain through increased yield, Jain Irrigation buys better quality produce and Coca-Cola can source this key ingredient locally for Maaza.

While in phase 1, Unnati has successfully trained farmers on UHDP technology and encouraged them to adapt to the new, sustainable agriculture practices, phase 2 is focused onbuilding deeper relationships and engagement with farmers.

Today, Ramesh Naidu is happy that he has been able to bring his parents back to their native place and generate enough money to be self-sustainable in the village itself. He is happy that like every parent and head of family, he had aspired to dream big for his and his brothers’ children. And now, he has sent two of his sons and a nephew to pursue a career in Engineering at Bangalore and Hyderabad respectively. That’s not all. Naidu has even encouraged his daughter, who goes to a school far away from their village in Hyderabad, to pursue higher education.

HCCB Model Village is a community engagement initiative for improving the living standards and the quality of life of communities around our factories, through an integrated approach to their development. Under this initiative, a village is adopted and interventions are planned under areas like access to health, sanitation, safe drinking water, education, skill building, livelihood generation, and sustainable agriculture.

Two years ago, HCCB identified core focus areas such as provision for drinking water, sustainable agriculture, sanitation, healthcare, primary education, environment management and other Infrastructure facilities to implement a series of improvement programmes. In partnership with the residents of the village, the local authorities, local experts and planners. It is now working with the village residents and experts to transform several villages into HCCB Model villages, across the country.