This April, Coca-Cola's U.K. arm took a small step toward sustainability by beginning its own in-house nitrogen production at its largest European soft drinks facility, Yorkshire Live reported.
The factory, a soda bottling plant in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, produces 420,000 cans per hour of popular sodas such as Coca-Cola, Fanta, Sprite, Monster, and Relentless. That total represents about one-third of all the soft drinks Coca-Cola sells in the U.K.
To produce them, Coca-Cola has previously used nitrogen transported to the plant in tankers from third-party sources.
This increases the amount of fuel being consumed and pollution being produced to supply the plant, which is one reason Coca-Cola wants to move the nitrogen production in-house, not to mention the cost savings.
"The proposed nitrogen generation plant will reduce the number of deliveries, with obvious environmental and cost benefits," said Coca-Cola Europacific Partners in a statement. "The proposed plant will incorporate sophisticated systems for the detection and warning of nitrogen leaks."
Even if there were a leak, the danger would be limited.
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In an enclosed space, concentrated nitrogen can displace oxygen, so detecting leaks is important for worker safety, but the atmosphere is already mostly nitrogen, as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration explained, so once any escaped nitrogen clears the building, it will be harmless.
A few local residents still object to the project on the grounds that the new nitrogen tanks will be an "eyesore" and the process may be noisy, Yorkshire Live reported.
But officials have determined that the addition will stay within the original grounds of the plant and be within the scope of its operations, so it's being allowed to proceed.
Ultimately, Coca-Cola still has a long way to go to make its products and operations fully eco-friendly, as it currently generates a huge amount of unnecessary waste and pollution. However, this is a step in the right direction.
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