ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT CAUSED BY THE COCA-COLA COMPANY'S USE

OF PLASTIC IN ITS CONTAINERS

HISTORY OF THE PROBLEM

Coca Cola today is the world's largest beverage company, offering its consumers more than
500 brands of soft drinks and non-carbonated beverages and although this at first glance
looks like a spectacular business that generates great profitability in Colombia and the
world, the truth is that behind this is a sad reality and is the pollution generated throughout
the production process and especially the single-use plastic used as packaging for their
beverages. This problem has grown exponentially as the company grows and the number of
consumers increases.

According to a study conducted by the international environmental NGO Greenpeace and

with the help of 11,000 volunteers who have cleaned the beaches of 45 countries, where
more than 330,000 containers were collected, the multinational beverage company Coca-
Cola ranks first among the companies that pollute the most with plastic worldwide,
followed by companies such as Pepsi, Unilever and Nestlé, which are considered the largest
producers of waste. Coca-Cola has topped the list in this study since 2018, producing
approximately 10 percent of plastic packaging on the planet, this being around three million
tons, the study estimates. This study was also captured in an article by EL TIEMPO
newspaper on October 25, 2021.

Although the company is working on strategies and policies to help counteract this
problem, there is still a long way to go to find a definitive and fully efficient solution.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PROBLEM

This is one of the main environmental problems today, and although it is a very versatile
material that offers different possibilities of use for human beings, it is also a material that
does not decompose easily, causing its intensive use to generate waste that is difficult to
handle and dispose of, which leads to its accumulation in the environment and the
ecosystem in general.
GENERAL PROBLEM QUESTION

What is the national environmental impact generated by the Coca-Cola company due to its
plastic packaging?

SYSTEMATIZATION OF THE PROBLEM

 Does the company promote environmentally responsible consumption by its

customers?
 What percentage of plastic is recycled by the company?
 What strategies are designed to counteract this problem?

OBJECTIVES

GENERAL OBJECTIVE

To identify the national environmental impact generated by the Coca-Cola company due to
the use of plastic as packaging for its beverages, as well as to know the different policies or
strategies implemented to counteract this problem.

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES

 To know what percentage of plastic is recycled and reused by the company.

 To identify methods used by the company to promote greater efficiency and
encourage recycling.

JUSTIFICATION Reasons why the topic is important and related to the SDGs

Despite the different laws and agreements on environmental matters related to the
management of plastic waste in Colombia and the world, the increase in production, lack of
use and indiscriminate use of plastics generates a growing environmental problem.

According to the evaluation made by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP)
"85% of the waste that reaches the oceans and warns that, by 2040, the volumes of this
material that will flow into the sea will almost triple, with an annual amount of between 23
and 37 million tons. This means about 50 kg of plastic per meter of coastline worldwide"
(UNEP 2021). This excessive increase in plastic waste caused by public and private sectors,
and especially by consumers, has direct implications on the fulfillment of the UN
Sustainable Development Goal 14 - Life below water.

Although, from academia we cannot generate a significant change in the production chain
of these, we can generate awareness of the present and future impact of the excessive
consumption of plastic elements as well as the importance of bringing about small changes
in our daily lives since the average figure of solid waste generation in a Colombian
household is 4.3 kg/day (Greenpeace & Andes, 2019).

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK History, objectives, environmental situations, ambi

policies.

In 1886 John Pemberton, who was a pharmaceutical chemist, created a medicinal syrup
from extracts of coca leaves and cola nut, this was the first version of what we know today
as Coca-Cola. The boom was so great that in 1891 The Coca-Cola Company was founded
and in 1893 the trademark was registered.

Currently, its products are marketed worldwide, except for North Korea and Cuba. In Latin
America alone, they have 49 bottling plants, 268 distribution centers and more than 2
million points of sale (Coca-Cola Femsa).

In 2004, they founded the first PET recycling plant in Latin America in alliance with
ALPLA and The Coca-Cola Company. In 2020 placed a US$705 million Green Bond, the
largest in history for a company in Latin America (Coca cola Femsa).

According to an article published on Coca-Cola's website (Journey Coca-Cola 2022), the

company's goal for 2030 is to have at least 25% of its beverages in reusable containers.
They also created the initiative "A World Without Waste" to promote a circular economy
focused on:

 Design: making all our primary consumer packaging recyclable by 2025. Use 50%
recycled material in our packaging by 2030.
 Collection: Collect and recycle one bottle or can for everyone we sell by 2030.
 Partnerships: Bring people together to support a healthy, waste-free environment.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
PNUMA 2021 
From Pollution to Solution: A global assessment of marine litter and plastic pollution
https://www.unep.org/resources/pollution-solution-global-assessment-marine-litter-and-
plastic-pollution

Greenpeace & Andes, 2019

Situación actual de los plásticos en Colombia y su impacto en el medio ambiente

Coca cola Femsa

https://coca-colafemsa.com/acerca-de/somos-kof/datos-clave-del-negocio/

Journey Coca-Cola 2022

https://journey.coca-cola.com/sustentabilidad