The Coca-Cola Export Corporation's Pakistan branch was presented with the Environmental Excellence Award 2010 in early August during a ceremony in Karachi.
The panel of judges was impressed by the company's "vision and implementation through contributions in the field of environment friendly policies." The jury's decision was endorsed by Pakistan's Environment Protection Agency, the government of Sindh, the Pakistan Environment Agency, Islamabad, and Pakistan's Ministry of Environment.
Companies were evaluated based on their efforts to promote environmental stewardship and build sustainable communities, as well as on their internal environmental, health and safety practices.
Coca-Cola has partnered with WWF-Pakistan for a unique sub-watershed management project at Ayubia National Park in the Galiat area of Pakistan's North West Frontier Province. Now in its second phase, the project focuses on conserving water resources, preserving the park's plants and wildlife, reducing soil erosion and building awareness among local communities and park visitors. In addition to planting trees and installing check dams and rainwater harvesting structures, the project has provided the local community with water filtration plants that benefit about 10,000 people each day.
On the operations side, the Coca-Cola system in Pakistan is taking steps to reduce water use during the beverage production process. All bottling plants are now equipped with wastewater treatment facilities, and many use solar power and air-rinse technologies. Coca-Cola’s bottling partners also are making progress to lightweight our packaging and reduce emissions among our delivery fleet.
The Annual Environment Excellence Awards are organized by the National Forum for Environment & Health (NFEH), an NGO affiliated with the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) and supported by Pakistan's Ministry of Environment and Sindh's and Ministry of Environment. Now in its seventh year, the awards program has become the industry benchmark for sustainable development.
"This award is a testimony to Coca-Cola's efforts to create sustainable communities around us," Fahad Qadir, public affairs and communications manager, Pakistan and Afghanistan, said following the ceremony, which was attended by several top government officials. "We are proud to claim that we have played, and will always play, the role of a socially responsible organization by working together with key stakeholders for the benefit of people and societies at large."