Coca-Cola plants ‘do not cause water shortages’

Coca-Cola is claiming vindication in its battle with campaigners over its role in water scarcities near bottling plants in India.

An 18-month investigation by an independent scientific body into the company’s Indian operations has concluded that Coca-Cola plants may have contributed to, but have not caused, water shortages in some areas.

Coca-Cola says the report, which it commissioned from the Delhi-based Energy and Resources Institute (Teri), shows that while the company needs to improve its performance in some areas, it has been wrongly blamed for water shortages that are caused by others’ exploitation.

Teri states that no pesticides were found in any of the water used in the company’s products and that the four company- and two franchisee-owned bottling plants it studied ‘generally met government regulatory standards’ on water quality.

However, it did question the siting of plants in areas of high water demand and urged the company to invest in water conservation, drinking water supplies, and health, education and infrastructure development near its plants. A further recommendation is that the company ‘evaluate its options’ for one bottling plant, at Kaladera in the northwest Indian state of Rajasthan, including closure, relocation or shipping in water.

The company has pledged to return more water to aquifers by 2009 than its 49 Indian bottling plants use. It will do this by trapping rainwater that at present runs into rivers and lakes.