One of the six pillars of The Coca-Cola Co.’s 2020 Vision is dedicated to sustainable goals organized under its Planet initiative. The company aims to attain global leadership in sustainable water use as well as industry leadership in packaging, energy and climate protection.

The economy and the environment are at the top of many minds lately. Consumers don’t simply want to save a buck, but they also want to feel like they’re doing some good in the process.

Beverage companies are taking on new strategies in regard to the goals of their recycling initiatives. One would be hard pressed to find a beverage company not involved in recycling, but the industry continues to expand existing recycling programs. Craft brewer Boulevard Brewing Co., Kansas City, Mo., had to expand its recycling efforts in order to become a zero-landfill facility in January. In 2009, Boulevard’s Founder and President John McDonald, Chief Financial Officer Jeff Krum and Technical Director Mike Utz became co-founders and principals of Ripple Glass, a glass recycling company, to help close the loop in the brewer’s glass bottle consumption.

If your company is like most others, you may be feeling a lot of peer pressure lately to hop on the green bandwagon. After all, green is the new black. On a surface level for consumers, it has become a type of status symbol, and for manufacturers it is occasionally just a half-hearted public relations attempt.

Dow Jones Indexes, a leading global index provider, and SAM, the investment boutique focused exclusively on sustainability investing, announced the 2011 results of the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes (DJSI) annual review.

The Coca-Cola Co., Atlanta, released its eighth system-wide sustainability report that ranks the company at a self-declared B-plus level, according to the disclosure and reporting requirements of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). The report’s highlights include the expanded availability of the company’s PlantBottle technology, improved water-use efficiency, carbon footprint reduction progress and philanthropic activities.

The Coca-Cola Co., Atlanta, is collaborating with musician and producer will.i.am along with other iconic brands to inspire a global movement with the launch of Ekocycle, a brand initiative dedicated to help encourage recycling behavior and sustainability among consumers through aspirational, yet attainable lifestyle products made in part from recycled material.

A slight majority of consumers — 54 percent — claim to have familiarity with the term “sustainability.” 

Jamba Juice Co., Emeryville, Calif., enhanced its comprehensive eco-sustainability strategy by forming a strategic relationship with the Global Green USA’s Coalition of Resource Recovery (CoRR), an industry working group dedicated to accelerating waste diversion programs.