Coca-Cola Enterprises Ltd. of Wake-field, England, Europe’s largest drinks manufacturing plant, is thought to be the first company in the food and drinks sector to achieve ISO 50001 certification. The accomplishment forms part of the US parent company’s plans to make the Wakefield plant one of the most efficient in the world.
Since 2007, Coca-Cola has invested GBP 51 million in improving its operations at Wakefield, which produces 6 000 cans of soft drinks every minute. The plant has cut water consumption by 10 % and energy use by 16.5 %, and has implemented ISO 50001 in its bid to further Coca-Cola’s ambition to become a low-carbon business.
ISO Focus+ asked Ian Johnson, Operations Director at Coca-Cola Enterprises, to comment :
ISO Focus+ : What difference do you expect ISO 50001 implementation and certification to make to Coca-Cola?
Ian Johnson: Coca-Cola Enterprises is proud to be the first company in the global food and beverage industry to be officially recognized for its energy management practices, and believes the certification will help us drive forward with new efficiencies and cut our carbon footprint and costs even further. We now have a structured approach to identify opportunities to improve, and then a formal management review to follow through on actions and record success.
ISO Focus+: Can you outline some of the energy saving measures and initiatives you are implementing to meet ISO 50001 requirements?
Ian Johnson: We currently have several energy initiatives in place, including LED lighting, bottle blowing oven optimization, and air recovery from our compressed air systems. The standard focuses on energy consumption, but we use the same approach for our water consumption. Various initiatives have helped to cut energy consumption at the site. These include :
- Introducing natural light to our lines where possible
- Filling cans and bottles at more ambient temperatures to cut energy used by chillers
- Installing a real time monitoring system to measure how much energy and water is being used, where, when and under what circumstances. ISO Focus+ : Can you already comment on the benefits of implementation?
Ian Johnson: The benefits we have seen so far are around the focus it brings to energy saving in the business, and the systematic approach that must be followed. This helps us to achieve continual improvement of energy performance, including energy efficiency, energy use and consumption. In addition, there is a financial benefit for the business given the current high prices of energy.
Going for ISO 50001 certification provides a point of focus and galvanizes the people involved to identify and deliver significant improvements.
iso.org
By Ian Johnson, Philip Fullerton, Refhan Razeen & Maurice Ahern