Coca-Cola Brazil displays 100 CO₂ coolers at Rio +20

Underscoring the main focus of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, Rio +20, Coca-Cola Brazil is showcasing 100 coolers using the natural working fluid R744. Supplied by the commercial refrigeration company Metalfrio, apart from the benign environmental impact of using of CO₂ as a cooling gas, the VB43R coolers incorporate new energy efficiency standards and a longer component lifespan.

Referring to the price of these coolers, Mr Adilson Lemos, Metalfrio Marketing Manager said: “In comparison, the cost of the eco-friendly coolers is still more expensive today than our other models, however as demand for the new units increases, production costs will decrease which will result in reduced pricing to the customer”.

HFC-free by 2015 with CO₂ coolers

As part of the global strategy, Coca-Cola Brazil is gradually replacing their coolers with HFC-free equipment and from 2015 all new coolers will use CO₂ gas in their compressors. According to the Sustainability report 2010/2011 published at the beginning of 2012, the Coca-Cola Company had by the end of August 2011 400,000 coolers using HFC-free refrigerants, including carbon dioxide and hydrocarbons.

As mentioned at the ATMOsphere America 2012 conference on 13 June, so far Coca-Cola has placed around 612,000 HFC-free natural refrigerant machines, out of which more than 202,000 units use R744. It is expected that more than 650,000 HFC-free machines will be installed.

With more than 10 million dispensers, vending machines and coolers in the global market, the Coca-Cola Company aims to reduce their impact on climate change through installing cooling equipment that is HFC-free. The Company’s phase out of HFCs, is expected to avoid emissions of more than 52.5 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent over the life of the equipment.

Coca-Cola & Metalfrio - long-term partnership

Coca-Cola Brazil and Metalfrio’s partnership to find sustainable technologies is not new: in the in 2007, they introduced refrigerators with an Energy Management Device (EMD) to the Brazilian market, which reduces the energy consumption by 30%. In 2010 Coke also started to use LED lighting in their refrigeration equipment, which consume 15% less energy than fluorescent lighting.

Coca-Cola’s other sustainability initiatives at Rio+20

• Over 330 thousand Coke Plant bottles will be at Rio+20, with 30% renewable content in mass of the plastic obtained from the monoethylene glycol (MEG) derived from the sugarcane.
• In cooperation with the Rio+20 Secretariat, the United Nations Global Compact organised the Rio+20 Corporate Sustainability Forum from 15-18 June 2012, where Coke also agreed to set targets on their own water efficiency and wastewater.