Water efficiency is the first ingredient for Coca-Cola Amatil

Coca-Cola Amatil Australia is recognised as one of the most water efficient companies in the Coca-Cola system and is the first manufacturing facility to be awarded a five-star rating by Sydney Water under its Every Drop Counts business program. At the Northmead and Smithfield sites, five dry lubrication lines have been installed with dry-lube being rolled out on a new can line in Northmead and another at Smithfield in the coming years. By implementing the dry-line lubrication method, CCA says it has saved around 23 million litres of water already and when all lines in the two plants are fully commissioned, it anticipates annual water savings of up to 25 million litres in Sydney alone.

What's New in Food Technology recently spoke to CCA's NSW environmental manager, Janine Cannell, about its water efficiency programs and how the company sees itself in a leadership position within the beverage manufacturing sector.

What is CCA Australia doing to become more sustainable?

JC: CCA addresses sustainability under four global pillars: environment, marketplace, workplace and community.

Marketplace - In response to community concerns about health, we have significantly diversified our product range. Today, water, fruit juice, coffee, sports and energy drinks, sugar-free soft drinks and SPCA's fruit and vegetable products contribute more than 30% of our revenue compared to 5% in 2001.

The Australian and New Zealand launch of sugar-free Coca-Cola Zero was an unprecedented success. It ignited the soft-drink market and delivered value to our shareholders. And on the other hand, it has helped consumers choose a lower kilojoule beverage.

Environment - Managing our environmental 'footprint' is crucial to the future of our business. Management of the sustainability of water is a priority for us and we are making excellent progress in saving water at every level of our business. Our environmental management systems are utilising new technology like waterless lubrication on the production lines and by working with governments on water-saving action plans.

In our bottled water business, we are also responsible for managing spring water or groundwater resources to ensure their long-term sustainability by investing in stringent monitoring and ongoing hydrogeological studies of water sources. We share the concerns of Australia's leading hydrogeologists that the true status of Australian groundwater systems and the impact for all users is still largely unknown.

Community and workplace - We are committed to maintaining and improving the health and wellbeing of our employees and the myriad of communities we operate in.

Why is CCA Australia recognised for being one of the most water efficient in the Coca-Cola system?

JC: During the past five to 10 years, our employees at manufacturing plants around Australia have embraced a water-saving culture and really pushed innovation. In 2006, CCA invested approximately $4 million into water-based research and development, which included small projects such as changing a recycled water process to $1 million plus investments in major projects such as dry-line lubrication. It's this mix of culture, ideas and investment which we believe has driven water savings at CCA.

In 2006, the Australian water usage ratio per finished litre of beverage was 17% lower than Coca-Cola Enterprises in the US and 40% lower than the global bottler average, which was 2.52 L/FBL.

What is dry-line lubrication?

JC: Traditionally, beverage packaging lines are lubricated with water containing a surfactant lubricant, sprayed directly onto conveyors to reduce friction. Water-based lubrication systems are typically associated with high water consumption and the wet, slippery environment can contribute to safety and hygiene issues.

Commercially available products include silicone-based formulations or teflon suspended in an oil-based lubricant. The dry-line system reduces water consumption and provides additional benefits including efficiency gains on the line, a drier working environment and a reduction in wastewater discharge.

When will dry-line lubrication be installed?

JC: Nationally, the program will be rolled out in the coming years; however, dry-line lubrication has already been installed on all the filling lines at our Northmead site, and at our Smithfield site, two out of three lines have been converted to dry-line lubrication with the remaining lines currently being commissioned.

CCA Australia claims to have made a 13% saving on water usage between 2001-2006. How was this achieved?

JC: We gained support of top-level management and implemented a national strategy with KPI for water efficiency, which we incorporated into a CCA core business plan. We identified where water was being used and installed flowmeters and conducted water audits to investigate water usage in the largest areas. From this we determined feasible projects and communicated extensively with local operations. With effective reporting and face-to-face communication, we were able to share ideas and successes.

What are your plans to further reduce water consumption?

JC: We are currently conducting trials on new 'clean in place' processes to reduce water and chemical use. We are also assessing technologies such as air rinsing and a detailed study is underway at our Northmead site to assess opportunities for water re-use and recycling in our operation. One of the initiatives included in our site redevelopment plan is stormwater harvesting for use in operations and for irrigation. We are also looking at underground tanks with a total capacity of 1.8 million litres.

CCA was recently awarded a five-star rating by Sydney Water. How important was this recognition?

JC: The Every Drop Counts program provided a framework to assess all aspects of our water management systems and to integrate sustainable practices into our business. The 5-star rating is a valuable achievement and complements our DECC Water Savings Action Plan. It provides a benchmarking tool which indicates that we are operating at a best practice and continuous improvement level.