Two-thirds of Chinese Coca-Cola suppliers are non-compliant

Coca-Cola, a main sponsor of the Beijing Olympics, has reported that two-thirds of its 371 Chinese suppliers did not comply last year with its ethical policies on matters such as workers’ rights and the environment. The company said in its 2007 Sustainability Report that 255 suppliers of ingredients, packaging and various services failed to observe principles that it established to promote labour rights. The report classed 48 suppliers as ‘significantly’ non-compliant and collectively a ‘critical risk to operations’ and 144 as ‘moderately’ non-compliant on issues such as wage and overtime violations and blocked emergency exits. Coca-Cola did not say which violations were most prevalent or give specific examples. The company has set training and remediation targets to bring suppliers into line, believing that working with suppliers on improvements is better than dropping them. Coca-Cola also records that it has cut its water use by nine per cent and solid waste by 14 per cent, and has achieved a seven per cent increase in energy efficiency at its bottling plants.