Australian beverage manufacturer Coca-Cola Amatil has become the latest Australian corporate to make a commitment to sourcing all of its energy from renewable energy sources, announcing it will make the switch to 100 per cent renewables by 2025.
The drinks company made a flurry of new sustainability announcements on Tuesday, including a goal of reaching zero net emissions by 2040, following a concerted campaign from environmental groups.
Coca-Cola Amatil is the local producer of a number of high profile drinks brands, including Coca Cola, Sprite, Monster energy drinks, and is the distributor of a wide range of alcoholic beverages.
The company has already committed to the installation of 3.5MW of rooftop solar to be installed across three of its locations. The company said the onsite solar would save the company $1.3 million in energy costs each year.
The latest announcement is part of a number of new sustainability targets set by Coca-Cola Amatil, which also included a commitment to maintaining ‘net zero water’ operations, where the company oversees more water being returned to the environment than is used in its drinks production.
“Amatil is committed to maintaining a leadership role in sustainability and we firmly believe that creating value for society is consistent with the delivery of value to shareholders,” managing director of Coca-Cola Amatil Alison Watkins said.
“We’re proud of Amatil’s sustainability achievements to date, and this bold new set of sustainability ambitions will challenge us even further to deliver more positive outcomes over the next critically important twenty years.”
“We’ve made solid progress against our 2020 Sustainability Goals, and through this process and extensive engagement with our many stakeholders, we’ve developed a set of ambitions that have been prioritised based on stakeholder expectations and where Amatil can make the greatest difference,” Watkins added.
Greenpeace Australia welcomed the commitments, with the environmental group having directly advocated for Coca-Cola Amatil to adopt the targets, saying it was a step in the right direction for the company.
“Greenpeace is the last organisation you’d expect to find cheering on an announcement from Coca-Cola Amatil. But in this instance we think they’re doing the right thing by switching to 100% renewables, and committing to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040,” Greenpeace’s REenergise campaign director Lindsay Soutar said.
“Coca-Cola Amatil is one of Australia’s major energy users. Coke committing to 100% renewable electricity will reduce Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions and put pressure on other major businesses to make the switch.”
The environmental group said the commitment from Coca-Cola Amatil was further evidence that Australian manufacturers were getting on with seizing the benefits of renewables, even as the federal government lags.
“As our Federal leaders dither over an inadequate net-zero by 2050 emissions reduction target, they’re being out-run by Australian businesses who are rapidly transitioning to renewable energy, and setting net zero goals for ten years earlier. When even Coca-Cola’s doing more for the environment than our government is, it shows it’s time for Australia to up its climate ambition,” Soutar added.
The company will make a significant initial cut to its emissions by sourcing all of its electricity use from renewable energy sources and said that it has committed to reducing the company’s other emissions in line with a ‘science based’ target of reducing emissions by 25 per cent by 2030.
Coca-Cola Amatil joins a growing number of Australian companies that have made commitments to switching to 100 per cent renewable electricity, including Woolworths, Telstra, IKEA and each of Australia’s big four banks.
Coca-Cola’s European group has also already made a transition to 100 per cent renewable electricity, a goal it achieved in 2020.
