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November 19, 2008
The Coca-Cola system and Hakugen Co., Ltd. (Taito-ku, Tokyo)
are working together to reduce our impact on the environment
by recycling coffee grounds to make disposable pocket warmers.
The recently launched joint iniatiative will enable coffee grounds
generated when producing Georgia® canned coffee at three
Coca-Cola system plants to be processed into activated carbon
for the pocket warmers.
The coffee grounds will be sold to a manufacturer of activated
carbon, and the activated carbon that is produced will then
be purchased by Hakugen as a raw material. Activated carbon
exerts an exothermic reaction on iron filings, the main raw
materials used in disposable pocket warmers. Hakugen will begin
using activated carbon derived from our coffee grounds for all
of its pocket warmers beginning in late January 2009.
The three Coca-Cola system plants involved in the recycling
initiative -- Tama Plant (Higashikurume, Tokyo), Saitama Plant
(Yoshimi-machi, Saitama Prefecture) and Ibaraki Plant (Tsuchiura,
Ibaraki Prefecture) -- generate 10,000 tons of coffee grounds
per year. A portion of this waste will be used to produce activated
carbon.
Coffee grounds and used tea leaves account for approximately
80% of solid waste generated by the plants. Prior to this initiative,
the coffee grounds were used for compost and other purposes.
We are also working to develop an effective means of utilizing
used tea leaves.
Hakugen sold 550 million disposable pocket warmers during the
autumn and winter seasons of 2007.
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