22 Jul
Hokey Pokey Coca Cola
If you’ve read Okey Dokey Coca Cola?, the post above, you know that I don’t think that things go better with Coke.
However, in the interest of balance, it’s only fair to find out what Coca Cola-Indonesia has to say. Although I can find nothing more recent than this page from Coca-Cola Foundation Indonesia (CCFI) and Coca Cola’s Corporate Responsibility Report 2008 (.pdf), they do say a lot.
Live Positively is our commitment to make a positive difference in the world by redesigning the way we work and live so sustainability is part of everything we do.
Really, Coca Cola? “Everything“? Really?
Why is there no mention in the letter to Ya ‘Udah of Coca Cola’s commitment to recycle the aluminum cans which “could be re-sold per kg in the market.” Are they going to collect them from Ya ‘Udah and their other outlets? And if so, what do they plan to do with them? I doubt that they’ve established a network among the omnipresent scavengers and NGOs.
If they haven’t, they could try the XS Project who inform me that they “are now working with corporations to turn their trash into treasures.”
And what of PET bottles which are being churned out in their billions, yet Ya ‘Udah et al are expected to deal with?
Polyethylene terephthalate (sometimes written polyethylene terephthalate, commonly abbreviated PET, PETE, or the obsolete PETP or PET-P), is a thermoplastic polymer resin of the polyester family and is used in synthetic fibers; beverage, food and other liquid containers; thermoforming applications; and engineering resins often in combination with glass fiber.
One problem with PET is that although these drinks bottles are recyclable, the material itself may be toxic. I also wonder if the process of manufacture along with the recycling process has a smaller carbon footprint than simply reusing glass bottles.
They say that they see packaging as a resource, not waste. We will continue to find ways to reduce the amount of
packaging we use and ensure it is recyclable. CCA has consistently improved rates of packaging waste sent to recycling in our manufacturing plants in Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.
Strangely, it seems that those companies in Indonesia which recycle PET have to also import the material in order to have a viable volume of production.
Back in February 2006 I quoted the following from a now forgotten source: Plastic water bottles can take 1,000 years to biodegrade. Nine out of 10 water bottles end up as garbage or litter, and that means 30 million per day. Only a small percentage are recycled.
Adding soft drinks bottles to that number, however biodegradable they may be, and then considering the Indonesian habit of discarding litter wherever they may be and it seems fairly obvious that Coca Cola has not considered the consequences of their discarding glass bottles, except in a small way in Bali.
As part of [the} ongoing, year-round campaign to clean up Bali’s major beaches and waterways, we installed 200 public place recycling bins on Kuta, Legian and Sanur beaches, strategically located next to vendors’ ice chests.
And in Jakarta? What is the programme which ensures that their fine words aren't hollow? What is Ya 'Udah to do with their recyclable waste? As they haven't been informed, we may presume that neither have the umpteen bars, warungs, shops and other outlets for Coca Cola products.
Ah, but Coca Cola does have a Corporate Bullshit Policy. They have philanthropic Foundations in Australia, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea [which] distribute in total more than $1.5 million dollars annually to projects which assist local communities in Indonesia [including] micro-loans for people to start their own businesses.
Is this really an appropriate project for Coca Cola? To me, it appears that for all its vast reach, Coca Cola does little for Indonesia. It may well gloat that in 2007(?) Coca-Cola Bottling Indonesia was awarded a certificate for environmentally responsible companies from Environment Minister, Rachmat Witoelar.
That may look good hanging on an office wall, but it doesn’t look good from where I’m sitting and you can be sure that Ya ‘Udah doesn’t want a copy. Why is there a Coca-Cola Indonesia Eco-bus, powered with bio-diesel, touring schools educating students about recycling, energy saving and waste processing when they don’t seem to practice what they preach?
………………………………………………
Coca-Cola Foundation Indonesia (CCFI) est. 2000.
Contact Information:
Ms. Titie Sadarini
Wisma GKBI, 8th Floor
JI. Jenderal Sudirman No. 28
Jakarta 10210
Email: ccfi@apac.ko.com
Coca Cola Inc. seems to make a habit of not thinking about consequences.
The company has backtracked after a campaign which allowed teenagers' Facebook status box to be taken for a marketing campaign. Those who had 'joined' were fed "messages that made direct reference to a hardcore pornographic film."
Coca-Cola said the offending line had been approved by them, without them realising its true meaning.
Eating, loving, singing and pooping are, in actuality, the four acts of the mirthful opera known as freshness, and they pass like bubbles of a grit of champagne. Whoever lets them break without having enjoyed them is a entire fool.
I'm not sure what the relevance of the last comment is to my post, but I do like its poetic nuance.
Coca-Cola is being sued by a non-profit public interest group, on the grounds that the company's vitaminwater products make unwarranted health claims. No surprise there. But how do you think the company is defending itself?
In a staggering feat of twisted logic, lawyers for Coca-Cola are defending the lawsuit by asserting that "no consumer could reasonably be misled into thinking vitaminwater was a healthy beverage."
Lifted from J-Walk Blog