GREENBURGH, NY – As part of Liberty Coca-Cola Beverages (Liberty) ongoing investments to support sustainability efforts, the local Coca-Cola bottler joins with Clarke Energy USA, Inc. a KOHLER Company, to create the first quadgeneration production plant in the U.S. The town of Greenburgh’s Planning Board recently approved the plans, paving the way for installation at the bottler’s Elmsford facility.
The quadgeneration process will allow the facility to generate its own electricity, heat, cooling, and recover carbon dioxide (CO2) for beverage production. Generating energy using combined heat and power technology will deliver significant carbon savings versus grid sourced electricity. Additionally, recovering CO2 further improves the environmental performance of the system by reducing the need to source it from the market.
“As a beverage manufacturer driven by ensuring environmental responsibility, we are proud to partner with Clarke Energy to deliver an advanced energy system at our Elmsford facility,” said Paul Mulligan, co-owner of Liberty Coca-Cola Beverages. “Through Clarke Energy’s technology, we will be able to generate our own beverage-grade quality CO2 for our products while simultaneously powering our bottling plant.”
Liberty currently imports CO2 to the facility by delivery trucks. The CO2 is injected into the beverages to provide the carbonation or “fizz.” With the installation of the new technology, the company will be able to recover CO2 directly from the engine exhaust systems and clean it to create beverage-grade quality CO2 to be used in Liberty products, including Coke, Sprite, Fanta and other Coca-Cola beverages. The process will eliminate hundreds of trucks annually from the local roads.
“This complex technology will substantially reduce Liberty’s carbon emissions through high efficiency local energy production,” said Jamie Clarke, Chief Executive Officer of Clarke Energy. “With the benefits of the recent Inflation Reduction Act and increased price of CO2 globally, this provides many opportunities for carbon capture technologies in the United States.”
Clarke Energy has developed the technology and will oversee the installation process. The company has installed quadgeneration plants in several countries across Europe and Africa. The Elmsford production facility is the first in the U.S. from reciprocating engines and this will be the first time self-recovered CO2 will be used to carbonate The Coca-Cola Company products in North America.
Liberty’s emission reduction strategy was a key driver in the company’s decision to develop a project incorporating a highly efficient quadgeneration plant. Clarke Energy worked closely with Liberty to evaluate the facility’s manufacturing systems and processes to create an energy solution that will help optimize the site’s environmental performance.
“We want to congratulate Liberty Coca-Cola on this ground-breaking announcement. Liberty’s unwavering dedication towards driving innovative solutions across their operations is truly inspiring,” said Kurt Ritter, VP & General Manager of Sustainability North America, The Coca-Cola Company. “We are proud to partner with Liberty and advance their sustainability initiatives in an innovative and impactful way.”
Along with the project receiving support and approval from the town of Greenburgh, the West Chester County Planning Board indicated in its Feb. 23, 2023, referral letter that it commended Liberty taking these steps and the project will implement sustainable energy practices that will also help reduce truck traffic along the Route 9A corridor.
The quadgeneration plant will be operational at Liberty’s facility by the end of 2023.
Liberty is leading the beverage industry when it comes to implementing sustainability efforts. Along with maintaining The Coca-Cola Company’s commitment to creating a World Without Waste, Liberty has made significant investments in technology to support its sustainability initiatives across its entire distribution footprint, including:
- KeelClip™ paperboard packaging – the first bottler in the United States to replace the plastic ring holders with fiber-based consumer packaging – removing 75,000 pounds of plastic per year from the supply chain.
- Bottles Made from 100% recycled material – the first local Coca-Cola bottler to produce bottles made entirely of food-grade recycled plastic that can be reprocessed back into the system several times, ensuring a circular economy.
- Sustainable compacter – the Xcycler significantly reduces Liberty’s carbon footprint and processes large volumes of full plastic and aluminum liquid containers for recycling.
- Lower Emissions – 250 new lower-emission trucks entered Liberty’s fleet in 2022.
- Green Building – rooftop solar panels rooftop solar panels have been installed at Liberty’s South Brunswick facility.
Liberty serves a population of 28 million across five states, including major metropolitan markets of New York City, Philadelphia and all of New Jersey. More than 3,000 associates work across Liberty’s three manufacturing plants and eight distribution centers.
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