Coca-Cola China: 13,000+ CO2 coolers purchased in 2011

According to a recently released report, Coca-Cola China purchased 13,566 units of cold drink equipment that use carbon dioxide as refrigerant in 2011.

The figures are reported in the ‘Coca-Cola China System Sustainability Report, 2010-2011’ released by the Coca-Cola Company.

Growing investment in CO₂ cooling equipment

Coca-Cola has committed to expand its worldwide number of coolers and vending machines running on CO₂ refrigerant. To fulfill its pledges, its use of carbon dioxide coolers and vending machines in the Chinese market is growing year by year:

From 2008 to 2009, Coca-Cola introduced 13,300 units of the HFC-free coolers to China.
In 2010, another 5,000 units were placed in the market.
In 2011, another 13,566 CO₂ cold drink equipment units were purchased.

CO₂ refrigeration technology in Coca-Cola’s China Strategy

Its business in China accounted for around 8% of Coca-Cola’s global volume last year. In the Chinese market, the Coca-Cola Company owns about 1 million refrigeration equipment and 42 bottling plants. In China’s market, the Coca-Cola Company aims to reduce its carbon impact while growing their business through adopting environmental friendly coolers and vending machines running on CO₂ among other initiatives.

Coca-Cola has involved CO₂refrigeration technology in its business strategy in China since 2008. As one of the global sponsors of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the Coca-Cola Company used natural refrigerants to power more than 5,600 coolers and vending machines in Olympic venues. The refrigerant used in the eKOfresh units placed in all official venues of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games is CO₂ refrigerant. These CO₂ coolers with the innovative EMS technology have delivered energy savings of up to 35 %. After the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, these eKOfresh units are redeployed in China by the local Coca-Cola bottling system.

Coke’s HFC phase out commitment

The Coca-Cola Company plans to be 50% HFC-free by 2012 and 100% by 2015 for all new cold drink equipment. In 2009, Coca-Cola worked with Greenpeace to set a goal of installing 150,000 HFC-free coolers around the world. According to Coca-Cola’s Global Sustainability Report 2011, the company installed 162,000 new HFC-free cooling units globally in 2010, bringing the globally total HFC-free cold drink equipment units to 400,000 by August 31, 2011. In 2010, approximately 15% of Coca-Cola’s new cold-drink equipment purchases were HFC-free. By phasing out HFCs, the company aims to avoid the emission of more than 52.5 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent over the life of their equipment.