From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, this is the Real Economy Report.
Global beverage manufacturer Coca-Cola’s bottling partner Amalgamated Beverage Industries, or ABI, has invested significantly in an effort to reduce is water use at its bottling plant in Devland, Johannesburg. Sashnee Moodley reports.

Sashnee Moodley:
ABI’s 6 000 m2 bottling plant has undergone various retrofits and upgrades to significantly reduce its water use as part of its commitment to sustain scarce resources, while improving its operations. ABI plant engineer Louis Haasbroek gives us an overview of the investments made.

ABI Plant Engineer Louis Haasbroek:
Currently we have invested significantly in a water recovery system which will give us a 20% reduction in our current water usage. We also have a new system, which is a dry loop-chain loop that we want to dry, semi dry loop and then also we have a CIP system that we are going to implement or are currently busy with. So that will give us about a 20% reduction in our water usage

Per year we use 700-million litres of water on average.

We are producing 1.25 l of RGB glass and we are producing on PET plastic 2 l, 2.25 l and 0.5 l, half litres.

Shannon de Ryhove:
Other news making headlines this week: Eskom braces for a tough winter; Cell C raises the stakes in price war by injecting R2.3-billion into the network; and Business is urged to throw its weight behind the NDP to boost South Africa’s postelection prospects.

State-owned power utility Eskom will scale down its plans to repair power plants during winter to ensure the country has sufficient electricity supply during this period.

Strap: Department of Energy (DoE) deputy director-general Dr Wolsey Barnard

South Africa’s third-largest mobile operator has taken the industry-wide price war “to the next level” as it unveils a new 66c-a-minute offering, along with three new postpaid 79c-a-minute on per second billing products.

Cell C CEO Jose dos Santos

As South Africa enters its second five-year term with President Jacob Zuma firmly at the helm, Business Unity South Africa has urged the private sector to widen and deepen its engagement with government over the National Development Plan.

NWU Business School lecturer Raymond Parsons

That’s Creamer Media’s Real Economy Report. Join us again next week for more news and insight into South Africa’s real economy.