LOS
ANGELES (April 9, 2008) – FIJI® Water announced today that it had
joined the Carbon Disclosure Project Supply Chain Leadership Collaboration to
fully disclose the carbon footprint of its products. The Carbon Disclosure
Project (CDP), the world’s largest investor coalition on climate change, will
work with FIJI Water to engage with suppliers to disclose their emissions.
FIJI
Water is the first privately-owned
Chain Leadership Collaboration, which uses the CDP information request to
engage with suppliers to encourage them to measure and disclose their carbon
emissions. Measurement is the first key step to managing emissions.
For
the base year ending June 30, 2007, FIJI Water’s total annual carbon footprint
from every stage of its production and distribution was 85,396 metric tons of
CO2eq. To put this number in perspective, it is estimated that
the
carbon footprint is about 7 billion metric tons of CO2eq. This
means that each person in the
can be linked to an average of 20 metric tons of carbon emissions
annually.
“Having
an accurate account of our carbon footprint and ensuring transparency by
reporting it annually to CDP are important steps to enable us to understand
where to focus resources to reduce our carbon emissions,” said Thomas Mooney,
senior vice president, sustainable growth at FIJI Water. “We are very proud to
be the first bottled water brand to pioneer carbon disclosure of our products.”
To
measure its carbon footprint, FIJI Water calculated its carbon emissions across
every stage in the product lifecycle: producing raw materials for packaging,
transporting raw materials and equipment to the plant, manufacturing and
filling bottles, shipping the product from Fiji to markets worldwide,
distributing the product, refrigerating the product in stores, restaurants, and
other outlets, and disposing/recycling of the packaging waste. This
comprehensive, supply chain view is important because approximately 75% of FIJI
Water’s emissions result from the operations of supply chain partners, e.g. raw
materials suppliers, rather than from the company’s own operations. The
company also looked at emissions from sales and administrative activities such
as commuting, business travel, and office electricity usage.
In
addition to disclosing its overall product lifecycle emissions for the base
year, FIJI Water announced today the launch of a product-specific emissions
disclosure effort via the company’s www.fijigreen.com
website. At this site consumers will have access to product lifecycle
emissions data and analysis for each of the company’s products.
Further
to this initiative Mooney said, “FIJI Water believes that consumers will make
environmentally responsible purchasing decisions if they have the information they
need. Would we attempt to tackle the obesity epidemic by removing
nutrition labels from food and beverage products? Of course not, and
likewise the only way consumers can turn their good environmental intentions
into good decisions is to give them the information they need regarding the
emissions associated with the products they buy. We sincerely hope that
other companies, in our industry and beyond, will follow in providing
comparable product lifecycle emissions data for all of their products.”
Paul
Dickinson, CEO of CDP said, “CDP’s Supply Chain Leadership Collaboration is a
key step to encouraging suppliers to work with their customers to measure and
disclose their carbon emissions. It is only by understanding the carbon
footprint of suppliers, that a company is able to measure its own carbon
footprint.”
As
part of its sustainable growth initiative to become carbon negative, FIJI Water
will offset its total carbon footprint by 120%, removing from the earth’s
atmosphere not only all the emissions involved in the product lifecycle, but
also an additional 20%. For example, the total grams of CO2eq
removed from the atmosphere for FIJI Water’s 1 L bottle will be 115 grams, the
equivalent of the electricity saved by shutting down a laptop computer overnight
instead of leaving it on. Across all products sold in 2008, the company expects
to deliver a net reduction of more than 20 thousand tons of CO2eq
from the atmosphere as a result of this commitment. This is equivalent to
taking over 3,500 cars off the road or planting over 500,000 trees.
“As
the debate on climate change and carbon emissions increases, FIJI Water
believes that now is the time for companies to not only start measuring and
reducing their carbon emissions, but to take action to move towards a carbon
negative environment,” said Mooney. “Consumers who choose FIJI Water will
actually be helping the environment by taking carbon out of the atmosphere with
every purchase.”
Carbon
Negative Strategy
In
November 2007, FIJI Water announced an aggressive sustainable growth program
that included a commitment to become carbon negative beginning in 2008.
FIJI Water pledged to reduce actual greenhouse gas emissions 25% by 2010 by
reducing packaging 20%, supplying at least 50% of the energy used at its
bottling facility with renewable energy and optimizing logistics to take
advantage of more carbon efficient modes of transportation.
To
take immediate responsibility for its emissions, the company is partnering with
Conservation International (CI), a leading conservation organization, to create
a high quality, multiple benefit forest carbon project in the
be generated primarily through native species restoration on sparse
grasslands. Restoration of these degraded lands will be an
important means to safeguard the climate, support habitats for biodiversity,
and support community livelihoods.
The
offsets generated over 30 years will be used by FIJI Water to meet its “carbon
negative in 2008” commitment. This is known as forward crediting.
According to CI, it is the best way to ensure additionality, meaning the
project is creating new emissions benefits that would not occur without carbon
financing.
“Sequestering
carbon from the atmosphere through forest restoration helps address the
greatest challenge of our time – climate change,” said
Prickett
Center for Environmental Leadership in Business, Conservation International.
“In addition, it helps to ensure that
cultural history, will continue to thrive.”
to Date
Since
its announcement in November, FIJI Water has already implemented several
measures to reduce its carbon emissions. By optimizing its logistics, the
company has reduced trucking miles from warehouses to distributors by 26% on
average. In addition, the company has already started producing its 1.5 L
product with an initial 7% reduction in packaging and has reduced by 70% the amount
of waste materials taken to landfills. Finally, the company is using more
fuel-efficient trucks in
to transport its product from plant to port. This has resulted in a 50%
reduction in fuel usage.
Impact
of Recycling on FIJI Water’s Carbon Footprint
According
to the company’s analysis, recycling is the biggest opportunity to reduce the
carbon footprint of its product, or any packaged beverage.
Added
Mooney, “Perhaps the most compelling information to come from our carbon
footprint analysis is the big impact the simple act of recycling a plastic PET
bottle has. By recycling the bottle, a consumer can reduce its carbon
footprint at least 25%. That is why we support boosting overall recycling
rates through expanding curbside recycling programs and container deposit laws
that include bottled water and other non-carbonated beverages. Presently
only 11 states have container deposit laws and only 4 of these include bottled
water in their program (this includes
which will add bottled water in 2009). Considering that states with
deposit laws recycle at a rate 2.6 times higher than all other states, our
industry and our elected leaders are missing a great opportunity to reduce the
impact of our products. We would like to help change that by supporting
legislation that boosts overall recycling rates.”
Water’s sustainability commitments, visit www.FIJIGreen.com.
About
Water
FIJI® Water, a natural artesian
water bottled at the source in Viti Levu (
islands), is the #1 imported bottled water brand and the top selling premium
bottled water in the
States
virgin ecosystems on the planet, natural pressure forces FIJI Water out of its
aquifer deep below the earth’s surface and into iconic square bottles through a
sealed delivery system free of human contact. FIJI Water has been
top-rated in taste tests among bottled waters by
Illustrated Buying Guide, Men’s Health, Every Day with Rachael Ray
and others.
To further its ongoing mission of caring for
the environment, FIJI Water is carbon negative. Carbon negative means
that the production and sale of each bottle of FIJI Water results in a net
reduction of carbon in the atmosphere. FIJI Water is also partnering with
Conservation International and the people of
to protect and preserve the
Learn more about FIJI Water’s sustainable growth commitments at www.fijigreen.com.
FIJI Water is available in four convenient
sizes to suit any lifestyle. The 330 ml (11.16 oz) or Lil’FIJI, 500 ml
(16.91 oz), 1 L (33.81 oz) and 1.5 L (50.72 oz) bottles are available in single
serve and/or multi-packs at leading retail locations, and are also served at
select hotels, restaurants and gourmet shops. FIJI Water is also
available for home delivery in the continental
About
Carbon Disclosure Project
CDP
is an independent not-for-profit organization which was established in 2000 to
facilitate dialogue between companies and investors, supported by quality
information, from which a rational response to climate change will
emerge. Carbon Disclosure Project is a UK Registered Charity no.
1122330. A company limited by guarantee registered in England no.
05013650. It is also a special project of Rockefeller Philanthropy
Advisors in
a 50l (c) 3 charitable status.
About
Conservation International
Conservation
International (CI) applies innovations in science, economics, policy and
community participation to protect the Earth’s richest regions of plant and
animal diversity in the biodiversity hotspots, high-biodiversity wilderness
areas and key marine ecosystems. With headquarters in
CI works in more than 40 countries on four continents. For more information
about CI, visit www.conservation.org.