Coca-Cola Beverages takes top prize at Massmart Supplier Environmental Awards

Coca-Cola Beverages South Africa took top honours at the fourth Massmart Supplier Environmental Awards. The ceremony salutes Massmart's local suppliers for their commitment and exceptional performance in the implementation of environmentally-sustainable business practices.

“As retailers, our aim is for customers to be able to walk into our stores and trust that due consideration has gone into ensuring that the products on our shelves are produced sustainably and responsibly-sourced,” says Massmart group sustainability manager Alex Haw.

At the awards ceremony, Massmart’s top-performing suppliers were recognised for their commitment to sustainable supply chain management, followed by the announcement of the overall winner for 2017.

Coca-Cola Beverages South Africa’s (CCBSA) impressed by working with Mpact to construct Africa’s first Coca-Cola approved food grade rPET (recycled polyethylene terephthalate) recycling plant, the plant has the capacity to recycle 21,000 tonnes of PET per annum. CCBSA also implemented the Coca-Cola Beverages school plastics recycling programme which has grown from 68 tonnes per year in 2011 to more than 1150 tonnes in 2017, which goes toward supplying the new rPET recycling plant. CCBSA also achieved a 30% reduction in water consumption and a 60% reduction in energy use per litre of product produced over the past seven years.

For the first time, Woodlands Dairy and Samsung also received special recognition at the ceremony. Woodlands Dairy was honoured for being the first company in the dairy industry to implement an integrated wastewater treatment plant and biogas boiler. This has enabled them to reduce reliance on municipal water by 45% and has contributed to a 78% drop in greenhouse gas emissions. Samsung was recognised for their industry-leading contribution to e-waste recycling through their support of South Africa’s largest and longest running post-consumer e-waste takeback programme.

Alex Haw said, “The suppliers recognised here today have been outstanding in their efforts to incorporate sustainable practices in the way that they run their businesses.”

Award finalists

The finalists of the 2017 Massmart Supplier Environmental Awards were selected based on an environmental self-assessment survey, stakeholder input from leading environmental NGOs and site visits to verify their survey feedback. The finalists include:

• Belgotex Floors
• DGB
• Distell
• Nestlé
• Villiera Wines
• Woodlands Dairy
• Sea Harvest
• Sappi
• Mondi

Massmart says it has worked closely with suppliers since 2009 to understand and track the progress they are making with regards to producing products in a sustainable manner. This has been done through surveying the environmental practices of key suppliers on a self-assessment basis. The surveys cover among other things: packaging rationalisation, water conservation, operational energy efficiency, environmental product attributes, third-party certification and biodiversity impact mitigation. The company has also developed additional surveys that address sustainable seafood and timber sourcing.