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SUSTAINABILITY

At The Coca‑Cola Company, our purpose is to refresh the world and make a difference. We care about the impact of every drink we sell, and we are actively working toward solutions that help build a more sustainable future.

This includes efforts to help:

  • Reduce packaging waste

  • Manage our water use responsibly

  • Reduce emissions in our operations

Find more information in our latest 2023 Environmental Update.

We care about the impact of every drink we sell. In partnership with others, we are working to reduce packaging waste, and we are partnering to increase collection over the long term.

No one can solve this issue alone. We work with partners around the world to:

  • Design packaging solutions that use more recycled materials

  • Collect our bottles and cans and aim to facilitate recycling

  • Partner with key stakeholders to support our initiatives, including investing in recycling infrastructure

Since the 1970s, we’ve been working with communities and organizations on local cleanup efforts, litter reduction and recycling campaigns.

To learn more, visit Packaging.

Coca‑Cola partners with hundreds of stakeholders across the globe to drive collective impact in areas including water, packaging, climate and agriculture. As a global business that operates locally, we extend our impact and reach because of the strength of the Coca‑Cola system, which includes our approximately 200 bottling partners worldwide. Our stakeholders include suppliers, consumers, customers, industry partners, governments and NGOs.

Partnering for Impact

Partnerships are core to our business and enable us to achieve more together. We can progress faster and with more impact by working with stakeholders who can bring their expertise and know-how to help create a better shared future. Our approach to stakeholder engagement is focused on transparency, inclusiveness, consistency and accountability. Feedback from our stakeholders allows us to learn more and improve, and informs our business and sustainability strategy.

We have operations nearly everywhere in the world—in more than 200 countries and territories. That means we have a responsibility to accelerate our efforts to help address water stress, protect local water resources and help build community climate resilience—communities’ ability to adapt to these changing conditions. 

Since 2015, we have met or exceeded our goal to return more than 100% of the water used in our finished products globally, on an aggregate level, to nature and communities*. 

Additionally, in 2024, we announced a new goal to reach 100% replenishment in each of more than 200 high-risk locations** across our system by 2035.

To learn more, please visit Water.

* With support from The Coca‑Cola Foundation, the company’s owned and independent bottling partners and independent suppliers and partners.

** Locations were identified following an extensive analysis updated in 2024 using the World Resources Institute Aqueduct 4.0 tool and Coca‑Cola system level assessments of each production facility. The Coca‑Cola system is made up of over 200 bottling partners and 950 production facilities. For the assessment of high-risk locations, the number of facilities evaluated was approximately 720 locations as it does not include third-party contracted manufacturers.

We are getting there. We continue to expand innovation initiatives to ensure our primary consumer packaging is designed to be recyclable.

Our Progress in 2023:

  • 90% of our packaging is recyclable globally.
  • We used 27% recycled material in our packaging globally, and 17% of PET used in our packaging is recycled PET.
  • Approximately 14% of total beverage volume was served in reusable packaging.

To learn more, please visit Packaging.

Misinformation continues to spread about the recyclability of beverage caps. The closures we use on bottles are recyclable from a technical standpoint and highly recycled. They are made from high-density materials selected for their compatibility with most recycling systems.

Most recyclers use a float/sink process where PET bottles sink and the closures and labels float. For this reason, and to minimize litter, we recommend that consumers empty the bottle and replace the cap before placing in a recycle bin. Like the PET plastic used in our bottles, there also are end markets for the material used in the caps, such as paint pails and battery casings.