Baltimore, Maryland - February 27, 2009 - On Thursday, over 40 executives from industry, academia, government and non-government organizations visited the Baltimore Coca-Cola Bottling Company's plant to hear about the firm's global sustainability initiatives. The program was organized by the Maryland-Asia Environmental Partnership (MD-AEP) as part of its Environmental Leadership Series. The new series is aimed at mobilizing Maryland-based environmental lesson learned and expertise from business, government and academia to help address Asia's massive water, energy and climate change needs.

As a global leader in corporate responsibility and sustainability, with nearly $20 billion in annual revenues and operating in over 200 countries worldwide, The Coca-Cola Company has publicly committed itself to reduced resource use, improved supply chain performance, and enhanced customer benefit. Coca-Cola Enterprises, the world's largest bottler and distributor of Coca-Cola products and parent company of the Baltimore Coca-Cola Bottling Company, has also assumed a leadership role in CRS with its implementation of a wide array of targets and goals for sustainable environmental practices, including water stewardship, energy and resource conservation.

Baltimore Plant Manager Leon Warner put it simply when he discussed why Coca-Cola Enterprises is so committed to sustainability. "We recognize that this is not only about good business because of the increasing awareness of our customers, suppliers and the general public - considerations which contribute to the bottom line. This is also about doing the right thing for our environment and for future generations here in Baltimore and beyond." he said.

The forum drew key MD-AEP stakeholders including the Maryland Governor's Asia Pacific American Commission, Domino Sugar, Battelle, the Baltimore Development Corporation, McCormick & Co., Inc, the Maryland Department of Environment, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, Washington Labs, Mantec, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Confederation for Productivity Science, the Carbonfund.org among others.

"I was very impressed with how Coca-Cola has integrated sustainability into its core business strategy," said Dr. Tom Tuttle, President of the World Academy of Productivity Science. "A key take away for me was how their processes and policies are aligned with the strategy. When the capital budget request process requires that the general manager show how the proposed capital investment will enhance environmental performance as well as economic performance you know the organization is serious." he said.

Coca-Cola Enterprises is committed to replenishing water used in their plant operations worldwide. "As a company we are currently using 1.7 gallons to produce every gallon of our product," said Manny Lopez, Vice President, Public Affairs & Community Relations. He said the industry average is currently 2.3 gallons used to produce 1 gallon and their goal is to bring that ratio to one gallon used for one gallon of product. "While our overarching goal is to become water neutral, we are doing our best to give back to communities where we operate through our water stewardship efforts," said Lopez.

The Coca-Cola Company has a $20 million global partnership with the World Wildlife Fund to clean up 20 river basins globally and just recently increased that amount by $3.75 million. One of those river basins is the Yangtze River basin in China. The Yangtze is under increasing duress from urbanization, industrial pollution, habitat loss and the flow interruption from 500 dams and dikes. "We recognize that the Yangtze is a vital waterway for livelihoods of many Chinese citizens, said Joseph Richardson, Manager for Environmental Affairs at Coca Cola Enterprises. "According, we've taken a very holistic approach, from sustainable agriculture to watershed conservation," he said.

"Coca-Cola has one of the world's best water programs and their efforts in countries like China show a great degree of commitment," said Beth Wong, Commissioner from the Maryland Governors Asia Pacific Americans Commission.

About Coca Cola Enterprises: Coca-Cola Enterprises is the world's largest marketer, distributor, and producer of bottled and canned liquid nonalcoholic refreshment. CCE sells approximately 80% of The Coca-Cola Company's North American volume, and is the sole licensed bottler for products of The Coca-Cola Company in Belgium, continental France, Great Britain, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Monaco. Other key CRS initiatives include operating the largest fleet of hybrid-electric vehicles in North America - with ten serving the greater Baltimore metropolitan region - and the recent opening of the world's largest bottle-to-bottle recycling plant in Spartanburg, South Carolina in partnership with the Coca-Cola Company.

About The Maryland-Asia Environmental Partnership: The Maryland-Asia Environmental Partnership (MD-AEP) is a private sector initiative which is mobilizing resources and expertise from industry, science, governments and multilateral banks to address Asia's massive energy and water resource needs. Throughout Asia, government officials are grappling with major environmental management and resource concerns at the national and local level. What is often lacking is a holistic approach to address the gamut of lessons learned and appropriate resources for future sustainable development planning needs. MD-AEP acts as a unique catalyst to bring key stakeholder groups together for sustainable environmental solutions in Asia.

Maryland-Asia Environmental Partnership

Maryland-Asia Environmental Partnership

The Maryland-Asia Environmental Partnership (MD-AEP) is a newly formed, private sector initiative which is mobilizing resources and expertise from corporations, Maryland universities, U.S. and Asian government agencies and multilateral banks to address Asia's massive energy and water resource needs. Throughout Asia, government officials are grappling with major environmental management and resource concerns at the national and local level. What is often lacking is a holistic approach to address the gamut of lessons learned and appropriate resources for future sustainable development planning needs. We provide a unique catalyst for sustainable environmental solutions. MD-AEP functions as an environmental research, technology and services hub to connect Maryland's lessons learned, know-how and resources to countries in Asia. MD-AEP takes a sophisticated approach to its business engagement as we look to bridge Maryland-Asia public-private partnerships from a local country standpoint and solve environmental problems with sustainable business outcomes.

More from Maryland-Asia Environmental Partnership