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COCA-COLA ANNOUNCES CLEAN UP BEFORE SYDNEY OLYMPICS
28 June 2000
LONDON -- Greenpeace today congratulated Coca-Cola for meeting Greenpeace demands by adopting a new refrigeration policy to reduce its impact on global climate change before the world's first Green Games.
Coca-Cola today announced that it would phase out potent greenhouse gas hydroflurocarbons (HFCs) in refrigeration by the Athens Olympic Games in 2004. It will expand its research into refrigeration alternatives and insist that suppliers announce specific time schedules to use only HFC-free refrigeration in all new cold drink equipment by 2004.
"Greenpeace has been campaigning in its offices around the world to change Coca-Cola's polluting HFCs," said Greenpeace Olympics campaigner Blair Palese. "If Coca-Cola can make this change, so too can the other Olympic sponsors such as McDonald's."
In May this year Greenpeace exposed Coca-Cola's use of polluting HFCs in the report Green Olympics, Dirty Sponsors.
The report called on Coke to: - Commit to 100% environmentally friendly Greenfreeze technology at the Sydney Olympics site and all future Olympic Games - abandon its corporate refrigeration policy of HFC use - specify all new equipment to be Greenfreeze and - abandon all CFC/HCFC/HFC use by the 2004 Athens Summer Olympics.
"Today's announcement by Coca-Cola fulfils most of these demands and sets a strong environmental benchmark for other industries" said Palese.
"Greenpeace will work to ensure that Coca-Cola delivers on its new policy and provides adequate verification and independent monitoring of action.
"The policy shift is a tribute to the thousands of people around the world who have joined the Greenpeace campaign at www.cokespotlight.com to stop Coca-Cola from using dangerous HFC gases which contribute to climate change," said Palese.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
- Jon Walter, Greenpeace International Press Officer in Amsterdam, +31 5236608 or Blair Palese, Olympics campaigner in Sydney, t +612 9263 0325 (working hours) or +61 465 9511 (after hours)