Coke opens ‘green' plant in Brazil

By Joe Guy Collier

For the AJC

Coca-Cola Co. announced Thursday the opening of its first “green” plant in Latin America and said it would invest $5.8 billion in Brazil in the next five years.

The new plant, located in the Brazilian town of Fazenda Rio Grande, is part of Leão Junior, a beverage company bought in 2007 by Coca-Cola. It will have the capacity to produce almost 11,000 tons of dried teas each year.

Coca-Cola built the plant using LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, practices and is pursuing certification through Green Building Council Brasil.

Among its features, the plant uses translucent tiles to allow natural lighting and reuses rain water in the bathrooms and for cleaning and irrigation.

Brazil, host to the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games, is a key market for Coca-Cola.

“Brazil is one of the the Coca-Cola Company’s top markets worldwide,” Coca-Cola Chairman and CEO Muhtar Kent said in a press release. “Over the past 25 years, our sales volume in the nation grew by 50-fold.”