Coca-Cola Beverages Africa (CCBA) in Namibia inaugurated a new, sustainable solar power supply at their Windhoek factory.

As a proud industry leader in developing increasingly sustainable ways to manufacture, distribute and sell their products, Coca-Cola Beverages Africa (CCBA) in Namibia, has recently installed 1 740 solar panels and nine solar inverters on the roof of the Coca-Cola Namibia Bottling Company (CCNBC).

A subsidiary of CCBA, CCNBC will now derive 9% of the factory’s total power requirements from a clean, sustainable energy source: the sun. In a year, the new system will reduce carbon emissions by 832 tonnes which is equivalent to planting 80 117 trees.

Inaugurating the new, sustainable power supply, CCBA CEO, Jacques Vermeulen said, “People matter. Our planet matters. Profitability is important, but not at any cost. CCBA has invested just over USD 388 000 (just over NAD 5.7 million) in this project and a feasibility study is currently being concluded for using solar power as a clean, sustainable, Distributed Energy Resource (DER) across nine of the 12 African countries in which we currently operate.”

He went on to confirm, “The project makes a compelling case for implementing solar powered systems at a number of sites across CCBA’s operations in at least three other countries.”

Aside from its investments in sustainable energy, CCBA believes in doing business the right way by following the company values and working toward solutions that benefit us all. As such, CCBA’s sustainability initiatives are aligned with the needs of the communities in which it operates. In this context, reliable access to good, safe water is essential to life, nature and the health of communities, especially in water-stressed countries such as Namibia. Through water efficiency initiatives and technologies, water usage across CCBA’s operations have decreased substantially over the past several years.

The Coca-Cola system is targeting to use 1.7L of water to produce 1L of product across all operations by 2020. At CCNBC water consumption has been reduced from Furthermore, together with The Coca-Cola Company, CCBA is leading the industry with a bold, ambitious goal: to help collect and recycle a bottle or can for every one sold by 2030. In support of the Government’s waste management objectives, CCNBC partners with Rent-a-Drum, a waste collection company, not only providing financial support but also branding a number of their vehicles to build awareness of the importance of recycling. Both CCNBC and Rent-a-Drum are part of the Recycling Namibia Forum (RNF), an industry partnership which they helped to form to coordinate recycling efforts. RNF plays a key role in education and awareness, particularly through their Schools Recycling Programme.

But CCNBC’s commitment goes beyond environmental stewardship. Last year, CCNBC, the Coca-Cola Foundation and Medshare International – a US-based humanitarian aid organisation – donated a container of medical supplies worth USD 500 000 for use in state medical facilities.

CCBA’s vision is to refresh Africa every day and make our continent a better place for all. The newly-commissioned solar powered system, efforts to conserve water, waste management initiatives and community work – such as donations of medical equipment to those who need it most – are all ways in which CCBA is demonstrating the company’s commitment to Making Namibia Better.