Case 3 – Coca Cola and CSR

1. Understand the issues and challenges faced by Coca-Cola with regard to its
sustainability initiatives in India.

ANS:

 Coca-Cola India being one of the largest beverage companies in India,

realized that CSR had to be an integral part of its corporate agenda.
 Coca-Cola India's CSR policies prioritized environmental responsibility.
 Coca-Cola India's activities impacted the environment in a number of ways,
including excessive water use, wastewater discharge, high energy use,
effluent discharge, and greenhouse gas (GHG) pollution through the usage of
refrigeration, vending machines, and air conditioning equipment, among other
items.

2. Analyse the underlying reasons for the growing criticism against Coca-Cola in
India and explore ways in which the company can address this issue.

ANS:

 Activists and environmental experts in India have slammed Coca-Cola for

depleting groundwater resources near its bottling plants, endangering the
livelihoods of poor farmers, and dumping toxic and hazardous waste products
near its bottling plants, as well as discharging wastewater into agricultural
lands used by farm employees.
 The basic principle of saving or reducing the number of things that will be
used in the production of bottles, could restrict and ultimately avoid this
environmental problem.
 One consideration will be eliminating product use, which would help the
organization reduce pollution and the risk of hazardous waste or wastewater
being spilled on agricultural lands.
 Slowly but surely, in addition to minimizing product use, they should really
have at proper recycling system in place for potentially hazardous waste that
has an effect on society's human health and the environment.