What are the material issues the company has identified?

In its 2019 Integrated Report LW Bogdanka SA identified a range of material issues, such as employee health and safety, anti-corruption, energy and emissions, impact on biodiversity. Among these, protecting water resources stands out as a key material issue for LW Bogdanka SA.

Stakeholder engagement in accordance with the GRI Standards              

The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) defines the Principle of Stakeholder Inclusiveness when identifying material issues (or a company’s most important impacts) as follows:

“The reporting organization shall identify its stakeholders, and explain how it has responded to their reasonable expectations and interests.”

Stakeholders must be consulted in the process of identifying a company’s most important impacts and their reasonable expectations and interests must be taken into account. This is an important cornerstone for CSR / sustainability reporting done responsibly.

Key stakeholder groups LW Bogdanka SA engages with:

To identify and prioritise material topics LW Bogdanka SA engaged with its stakeholders through the following channels:

Stakeholder Group	Method of engagement
Employees	·      Mailing ·      Cyclical meetings with the Management Board ·      Announcement boards ·      Multimedia boards ·      Bogdanka company newsletter ·      Intranet ·      OHS communications ·      OHS screens
Investors	·      Regular contacts ·      Meetings with representatives of the Management Board ·      Publishing of periodic reports ·      Participation in industry meetings ·      Conferences
Local communities	·      Regular meetings twice a year with representatives of the public administration ·      Educational initiatives ·      Press releases ·      Interviews ·      Investor relations website ·      Sponsored articles ·      Partnerships ·      Letters of intent ·      Meetings ·      Cooperation within the framework of sponsoring ·      Donations ·      CSR actions
Customers	·      Ongoing communication ·      Meetings
Industry regulators	·      Contacts depending on current needs
Suppliers and subcontractors	·      Regular contacts on operational level depending on the current needs ·      Audits
Natural environment	·      Contacts depending on current needs ·      Meetings

What actions were taken by LW Bogdanka SA to protect water resources?

In its 2019 Integrated Report LW Bogdanka SA reports that it took the following actions for protecting water resources:

• Launching a Water Treatment Station
• Since 2015, in the context of the circular economy model, LW Bogdanka SA has been operating a Water Treatment Station. Thanks to this environmentally-friendly initiative, which was accompanied by modernisation of the sewage treatment plant in Bogdanka, the mine significantly reduces consumption of water. Benefits of the Water Treatment Station at LW Bogdanka SA include the following:
  • Potable water is produced from mine water and treated storm water, which secures the mine’s current and future needs (the water not only meets the applicable legal requirements, but also has better physical and chemical parameters than water from deep intakes).
  • Process water is produced from mine water and treated sewage and storm water, which secures current and future demand for various types of water, for example for fire-extinguishing purposes or for the Bogdanka field air-conditioning system.
  • Circulation of water, sewage and storm water is closed within the Bogdanka mining field, resulting in a decrease in groundwater withdrawal in Bogdanka and Stefanów by about 260,000 m3/ year and a decline in removed treated wastewater by about 300,000 m3/year.
  • A sewage treatment plant is now operating in accordance with applicable legal requirements and in a much more efficient manner.
  • Water for the firefighting water cooling system is to be produced – this project is due to take place in 2021–2022.
• Water production at the Water Treatment Station in LW Bogdanka SA is based on state-of-the-art technologies. This process includes pre-treatment of water, sedimentation, filtration, and demineralisation. In 2019, construction began and the next stage of the expansion of the Water Treatment Station and the sewage treatment plant was launched to fully close the water and sewage circuits. The last stream of filtrate from the Water Treatment Station was fed into the new treatment system and will no longer be returned to raw or mine waters. Therefore, the Water Treatment Station, together with the sewage treatment plant, is ready to generate only solid waste, apart from the production of process and potable water, and to feed all process leachates into the technological processes of water treatment or sewage treatment.

• Monitoring discharged water
• Unused mine water is pre-treated by LW Bogdanka SA in a tank before being discharged, in a controlled manner, along with any leachates from the mining waste treatment facilities, to the Świnka River through the Żelazny Ditch. In 2019, about 14,738 m3 was discharged a day. LW Bogdanka SA monitors the quality and quantity of the discharged waters in accordance with the guidelines contained in the discharge permit. Tests show that the maximum permissible parameters specified in the permit are not exceeded. Furthermore, coal mining does not pose any direct hazard to the nearby environmentally valuable lakes. Meanwhile, sewage from the Bogdanka field is treated and then added to process waters (there is no discharge of treated sewage into the environment). On the other hand, sewage from the Nadrybie and Stefanów fields is treated and then discharged into the drainage ditch.

Which GRI Standards and corresponding Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have been addressed?

The GRI Standard addressed in this case is: Disclosure 303-4 Water discharge

Disclosure 303-4 Water discharge corresponds to:

• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6: Ensure access to water and sanitation for all
• Targets: 6.3

 

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References:

1) This case study is based on published information by LW Bogdanka SA, located at the link below. For the sake of readability, we did not use brackets or ellipses. However, we made sure that the extra or missing words did not change the report’s meaning. If you would like to quote these written sources from the original, please revert to the original on the Global Reporting Initiative’s Sustainability Disclosure Database at the link:

http://database.globalreporting.org/

2) https://www.globalreporting.org/standards/gri-standards-download-center/

Note to LW Bogdanka SA: With each case study we send out an email requesting a comment on this case study. If you have not received such an email please contact us.

What are the material issues the company has identified?

In its 2014/2015 Sustainability Report Coca-Cola identified a range of material issues, such as active healthy living, packaging, human rights, product and ingredient safety. Among these, working to promote the sustainability of local water sources everywhere it operates stands out as a key material issue for Coca-Cola, given that communities around the world rely on a sufficient quantity of safe, accessible water from sustainable ecosystems for their continued prosperity.

Stakeholder engagement in accordance with the GRI Standards

The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) defines the Principle of Stakeholder Inclusiveness when identifying material issues (or a company’s most important impacts) as follows:

“The organization should identify its stakeholders, and explain how it has responded to their reasonable expectations.”

Stakeholders must be consulted in the process of identifying a company’s most important impacts and their reasonable expectations and interests must be taken into account. This is an important cornerstone for CSR / sustainability reporting done responsibly.

Key stakeholder groups Coca-Cola engages with:

Stakeholder Group

Bottling partners

Consumers / customers

Distributors

Employees

Government agencies

Investors

Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)

Nonprofit partners

How stakeholder engagement was made to identify material issues

Coca-Cola identified the strategic priority areas and issues it reports on through an analysis it conducted in early 2014. Coca-Cola applied the GRI Reporting Principles for Defining Report Content to select these issues. The process was:

• Using recognized sustainability reporting standards and working together with a third-party management consulting firm, Coca-Cola began with a list of 100 environmental, social and governance topics of potential relevance.

• From this list, Coca-Cola identified the most relevant sustainability topics for the Coca-Cola system – reviewing a broad variety of internal and external stakeholder source documents, including interview transcripts, questionnaires and surveys from direct engagement with its stakeholder groups. The questionnaires Coca-Cola used were from prominent ranking organizations including DJSI, CDP and UNGC. Coca-Cola also reviewed documents that revealed the interests of its investors and the issues identified by its industry peers.

• Coca-Cola held sessions to ensure that face-to-face engagement with diverse groups of stakeholders informed its analysis, including through its collaboration with Ceres.

• Coca-Cola aligned topics to its business and a benchmark of industry peers and global trends.

• Coca-Cola engaged executives across The Coca-Cola Company and received feedback from Finance, Legal, Audit, Technical, Chief Sustainability Office and Public Affairs & Communications, who reviewed and vetted both the process and outcomes.

What actions were taken by Coca-Cola to promote the sustainability of local water sources everywhere it operates?

In its 2014/2015 Sustainability Report Coca-Cola set the following targets for promoting the sustainability of local water sources everywhere it operates, based on the company’s approach to materiality – on taking action on what matters, where it matters:

• By 2020, safely returning to communities and nature an amount of water equivalent to what Coca-Cola uses in its finished beverages and their production

Between 2005 and the end of 2014, through 209 community water partnership projects in 61 countries, Coca-Cola balanced an estimated 94 percent of the equivalent amount of water used in its finished beverages (based on 2014 sales volume). This totals approximately 153.6 billion liters of water replenished to communities and nature. In addition to improving water quality, quantity and access, Coca-Cola’s projects often provide additional community benefits, such as helping to improve local livelihoods and mitigate the effects of climate change, including biodiversity loss.

• By 2020, improving water efficiency in manufacturing operations by 25 percent compared with a 2010 baseline

For 12 consecutive years, overall water efficiency in manufacturing throughout the Coca-Cola system has improved. Coca-Cola has achieved this by monitoring water efficiency and following a continuous improvement process across all its facilities. In 2014, Coca-Cola used an average of 2.03 liters of water for each liter of product produced – a 10 percent improvement since 2010 – moving it toward its 2020 goal to use 1.7 liters of water per liter of product.

• Assessing water source risks

Through its water stewardship program, Coca-Cola has implemented a rights-based approach to water. Coca-Cola requires its system’s bottling plants to assess vulnerabilities of the quality and quantity of their community water sources and production water (if they differ); determine potential impacts from Coca-Cola’s water use and discharge of wastewater; and then address the issues identified in the development and implementation of a source water protection plan (SWPP). With its new systemwide database, Coca-Cola has been able to streamline its tracking and reporting process, thereby strengthening its governance ability. As a result, by the end of 2014, all the bottling plants in the system conducted a source water vulnerability assessment and the majority of plants began SWPP implementation. Built in concert with communities and local authorities, these plans help Coca-Cola identify and mitigate risks present in a given area. They address numerous water issues related to the needs and growth of its business and of the communities where Coca-Cola operates. Coca-Cola seeks not only to maintain regulatory compliance, but also to build a Company culture focused on water resource sustainability.

• Recycling and treating water

Coca-Cola continues its commitment to return to the environment – at a level that supports aquatic life –recycled wastewater from its manufacturing process. For all new, existing and acquired facilities, the water Coca-Cola returns is cleaned and treated to meet Coca-Cola’s own high internal standards and achieve full compliance with local regulations. In 2014, Coca-Cola achieved 99 percent alignment with its wastewater treatment standards. A few plants still needed to meet this standard and were delayed due to extenuating circumstances in their region. In order to accelerate improvements to the quality of water Coca-Cola’s facilities recycle and discharge back into the environment, as well as the efficiency with which Coca-Cola processes that water, Coca-Cola is currently transitioning its wastewater governance and technical support programs into a performance-based model. Managing this process is not always easy at facilities in parts of the world experiencing violent conflict, civil unrest and other challenges. Societal conditions sometimes prevent Coca-Cola’s local operations from investing what is required to achieve its goals. However, Coca-Cola supports all of its facilities in their efforts and will continue to do so in the future.

• Engaging bottling partners, government agencies and surrounding communities in India to help replenish water resources

In India, Coca-Cola is employing the Golden Triangle of partnerships by engaging its bottling partners, government agencies and surrounding communities to help replenish water resources. Coca-Cola continues to advance work on a variety of water replenish projects from rainwater harvesting and groundwater recharge initiatives to drip irrigation and laser leveling projects with local farmers to improve irrigation efficiency and productivity. Coca-Cola’s success in this region has improved the way it works on water projects in other parts of the world, as it looks to scale and replicate best practices across the Coca-Cola system.

Which GRI indicators/Standards have been addressed?

The GRI indicators/Standards addressed in this case are:

1) G4-EC7: Development and impact of infrastructure investments and services supported – the updated GRI Standard is: Disclosure 203-1 Infrastructure investments and services supported

2) G4-EN8: Total water withdrawal by source – the updated GRI Standard is: Disclosure 303-1 Water withdrawal by source

3) G4-EN22: Total water discharge by quality and destination – the updated GRI Standard is: Disclosure 306-1 Water discharge by quality and destination

4) G4-EN27: Extent of impact mitigation of environmental impacts of products and services

 

References:

1) This case study is based on published information by Coca-Cola, located at the link below. For the sake of readability, we did not use brackets or ellipses. However, we made sure that the extra or missing words did not change the report’s meaning. If you would like to quote these written sources from the original, please revert to the original on the Global Reporting Initiative’s Sustainability Disclosure Database at the link:

http://database.globalreporting.org/

2) http://www.fbrh.co.uk/en/global-reporting-initiative-gri-g4-guidelines-download-page

3) https://g4.globalreporting.org/Pages/default.aspx

4) https://www.globalreporting.org/standards/gri-standards-download-center/

Note to Coca-Cola: With each case study we send out an email to your listed address in request for a comment on this case study. If you have not received such an email please contact us.