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BEVERAGE bottling company Amalgamated Beverage Industries (ABI) — the largest manufacturer and bottler of Coca-Cola products in the southern hemisphere — has succeeded in reducing the water required to produce beverages across its five plants by some 70 percent over the last five years, while also narrowing its energy footprint over the same period by some 45 percent.

The SABMiller-owned company previously used 2.5l of water to manufacture 1l of soft drink, but had succeeded in narrowing this figure to an average of 1.7l by early this year.

Of this, one litre of water was contained within that actual beverage itself, while the remaining 700ml was used during the manufacturing and bottling process.

However, only 10 percent of the 700ml used along the production line was recycled.

ABI technical and planning manager JP Blumenthal told journalists during a tour of the group’s flagship Midrand-based facility in South Africa, which used a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottling line, last Thursday, that water use efficiencies had been achieved through enhanced water reuse, recovery and recycling interventions.

“We’ve managed to reduce our water consumption through bottle rinsewater recovery initiatives, clean-in-place water recovery and introducing dry, rather than water-based, lubrication.

“There’ll always be unrecoverable water, but there are still other options that we’re chasing down,” he noted.

Engineering News Online reported in November 2014 that SABMiller, the Coca-Cola Company and Gutsche Family Investments (GFI) had announced their intention to combine their soft drinks bottling operations in South and East Africa — including the ABI group — to create a group with $2.9-billion in revenue across 12 fast-growing markets.

The new company, which would be headquartered in South Africa, would be 57 percent owned by the brewer, 31.7 percent by GFI, which was the majority owner of South Africa-based bottler Coca-Cola Sabco, and 11.3 percent owned by the Coca-Cola Company.

The new firm, Coca-Cola Beverages Africa, would have more than 30 bottling plants when the deal was completed,  bringing together brands such as Appletiser and spring water supplier Valpre in countries such as South Africa, Kenya, Ethiopia, Mozambique and Tanzania. — Engineeringnews Online.