Coca-Cola Socio-Environmental Initiative
The global plastic and packaging challenges associated with the climate crisis have given the Coca-Cola company a reason to act. The focus is on their business model and the communities they supply. The company and their bottling partners have decided to drive climate change by encouraging consumers to recycle their packaging.
More specifically, the company has launched a returnable plastic bottle, which consumers benefit from because of its economic implications. The 2 litre bottle is returnable when purchasing a Coca-Cola product, and this purchase costs a fraction of what the non-returnable bottle costs. This initiative has given an incentive to consumers and added value to the company’s trade. Consumers become part of a larger sustainability community by re-using the bottle. They also get to save money in the process and the company gets to reduce its plastic waste stream.
The sustainability packaging strategy aims to create systemic change through a circular economy for their packaging. It also helps the company perform their social responsibility duties because the demographic that benefits from the reduction of price through the return of the bottle is mostly from the working class.
Although this initiative is a step in the right direction, focusing on it alone is not enough. Coca-Cola has the responsibility to help solve the global plastic waste crisis by leveraging their scale. They can also use some of the proceeds they make from their trade by supporting communities most impacted by plastic waste and reducing their carbon footprint.
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