London 2012 Olympic Games

At the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, we were proud to have been awarded the first "Green Medal" of the Games by Greenpeace - who don't throw praise lightly at multi-national corporations - for our efforts to promote water sustainability and reduce carbon emissions.

We believe the importance of the Games goes beyond our operations at the venues themselves and provides a unique opportunity to encourage lasting changes in behaviour. Reducing packaging waste and promoting recycling is an issue which is already high on our priorities in this country. So we are thinking hard about how we can use our marketing expertise to promote recycling on-the-go both at Olympic Games venues and through the wider community.  We're really looking forward to it.

"The Olympic Games are described as the 'Greatest Show on Earth' and with a global TV audience of over 4 billion, 8 million spectators, 10,000 athletes and more than 200 countries competing, the show is now coming to London in 2012.

London is unique in the fact it is the only city in the world to host the Olympic Games three times, 1908, 1948 and now 2012 and I feel sure this truly will be a 'once in a lifetime opportunity' for all of us".

Daryl Jelinek, Coca-Cola General Manager, London Olympic and Paralympic Games 2012

Our aim is clear

"To use the power of the Olympic Games and the passion and talent of our people to accelerate our plans to create an even stronger business for years to come"

The Olympic Games is the Coca-Cola System's biggest asset.  To help us leverage it successfully, we have built legacy plans in five key areas, ensuring that the business is on track to deliver its long term aims long after the Games have left town. 

In addition we are supporting London 2012 through every aspect of our Live Positively goals.

Energy Conservation and Climate Change - Voltaic Warehouse

Coca-Cola Enterprises will run a dedicated warehouse to help with delivery of Coca-Cola products for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Known as 'Voltaic', the warehouse incorporates many environmentally friendly features, including:

• Photovoltaic roof panels to generate solar electricity
• Skylights covering 15% of the roof (against an industry norm of 10%), which reduces the need for lighting
• A ground source heat pump, which uses the earth's geothermal energy to supply heating and cooling for the offices.

Together these features are expected to save 121.5 tonnes of CO2 per annum. 

Water Stewardship - Schweppes Abbey Well water usage

Schweppes Abbey Well is the official bottled water of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. It is bottled at our recently acquired manufacturing site at Morpeth. In 2010 its water use ratio was 1.74 litres per litre of product produced, which is some way off our overall GB ratio of 1.36 litres per litre of product.

As a result, we've set ourselves a challenge to reduce water use to 1.2 litres per litre produced by the start of London 2012. Detailed monitoring of water use at the site is well underway and reduction plans are falling into place.

In the first four months of the project, the 12-month water use ratio has already been reduced to 1.58 litres per litre produced.

Sustainable Packaging and Recycling - rPET Joint Venture

In 2011, Coca-Cola Enterprises announced a joint venture with ECO Plastics to develop the largest PET plastic recycling facility in Western Europe. Currently, only 35,000 tonnes, or one-third, of all PET sent for recycling is reprocessed in Great Britain.  The rest is exported. The new facility will more than double reprocessing of PET plastic bottles in this country to 75,000 tonnes.

This marks a step change in the plastic reprocessing industry and shows Coca-Cola Enterprises' commitment to creating a low carbon, bottle-to-bottle recycling system in Great Britain. It will also supply enough high quality, food grade recycled PET to achieve our goal of including 25% recycled content in all our plastic bottles by 2012.

The carbon benefit of using recycled PET (rPET) is clear. The rPET produced at the new facility will emit 68% fewer CO2 emissions than virgin PET, saving around 33,000 tonnes of CO2 per year, the equivalent of taking 15,175 cars off the road.

Product Portfolio- Powerade Zero

In October 2010, Coca-Cola Great Britain launched Powerade Zero, which was developed with sports specialists for use by the members of Team GB. Powerade Zero is the first sugar-free sports drink enhanced with sodium to help rehydrate the body - without adding back the calories of regular sports drinks. Powerade Zero is available in two great tasting flavours - Berry & Tropical and Red Fruits.  Meeting our other CRS objectives, Powerade Zero also contains only natural flavours and has no added preservatives.

Active Healthy Living - StreetGames

In October 2010, Coca-Cola Great Britain announced a three-year partnership with StreetGames, a national charity that helps young people in disadvantaged communities get active and participate in sports. With Coca-Cola Great Britain's funding StreetGames aims to provide better sporting experiences to over 110,000 young people by:

- Helping StreetGames grow its network of projects creating more opportunities for young people, including launching into Scotland for the first time

- Developing new programme of 300 neighbourhood sports festivals, reaching 46,000 people. The festivals give young people the chance to bring their friends and try out some of the sports and activities that are typically offered at a StreetGames session

-  Opening the first ever StreetGames Sport for Change Training Academy, where 100 tutors will deliver 11 new StreetGames training courses to around 6,000 sports coaches. 

As the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games approaches, Coca-Cola Great Britain and StreetGames aim to deliver a genuine legacy of increased grassroots sport participation that lasts well after the Games are over.

Communities- London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay

Coca-Cola is a Presenting Partner of the London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay and through its sponsorship, aims to shine a light on young Britons who have made a positive contribution to their local communities, by giving them the chance to carry the Olympic Flame. The Olympic Flame will arrive in the UK on 18 May 2012 and will be carried the length and breadth of the country by 8,000 Torchbearers, helping to inspire everyone to get involved in the spirit of the Olympic Games.

Workplace - HealthWorks at Homerton

In January 2010, Coca-Cola Great Britain announced its support for a workplace health programme at Homerton Hospital, close to the Olympic Park in East London. As a designated London 2012 hospital, Homerton was a natural choice for Coca-Cola as an Olympic Partner.

The HealthWorks scheme offers hospital staff free, on-site advice on healthy eating, good lifestyle habits and discounted gym membership. A crucial component has been former Olympic athlete, Shani Anderson providing on-site advice, coaching and support.

One year on, a report by independent think-tank 2020health found that the project positively improved fitness and lifestyle opportunities, met key NHS workplace health objectives and had transferability and scalability potential for other NHS locations. The report also noted that the successful partnership with Coca-Cola Great Britain was a first for an NHS Trust.