The Coca-Cola Company has announced that it has met the goal of giving back to communities and to nature the equivalent of all the water it uses in the beverages and production.

With this milestone, it has become the first among Fortune 500 companies to publicly claim to have achieved a water replenishment target.

The Coca-Cola Company chairman and CEO Muhtar Kent said: “This achievement marks a moment of pride for Coca-Cola and our partners. A goal that started as aspiration in 2007 is today a reality and a global milestone we plan to maintain as our business grows.

"We are keenly aware that our water stewardship work is unfinished and remain focused on exploring next steps."

“Now, every time a consumer drinks a Coca-Cola product, they can have confidence that our company and bottling partners are committed to responsible water use today and tomorrow.

“We are keenly aware that our water stewardship work is unfinished and remain focused on exploring next steps to advance our water programmes and performance.”

The Coca-Cola system also revealed the progress it has made on its water efficiency goal. The company claims that along with its bottling partners, it has improved water use efficiency by 2.5% from 2014 to 2015, adding to a cumulative 27% improvement since 2004.

Based on a global water use assessment validated by LimnoTech and Deloitte, conducted in association with The Nature Conservancy (TNC), the Coca-Cola system returned an estimated 191.9 billion litres of water to nature and to communities in 2015 through community water projects, which is the equivalent of 115% of the water used in Coca-Cola’s beverages last year.

The company achieved its water replenishment objective through 248 community water partnership projects in 71 countries, focused on safe water access, watershed protection and water for productive use.

Image: Coca-Cola becomes the first Fortune 500 Company to replenish all the water it uses globally. Photo: Courtesy of Business Wire.