Abstract
- In the recent past the issues of industrial effluent have continued to be a great problem since it causes environmental pollution and destruction of the biodiversity.
- A good example is coca-cola company, it has continuously increased the levels of carbon (IV) oxidized in the atmosphere and increased solid waste.
- These wastes from these companies are of the concern to the community as it may result in climate change, and global warming.
- The company can control its emission by use of appropriate technology such as recycling of solid waste to reduce pollution.
- Recycling of plastic containers will reduce the cost of manufacturing these containers hence it reduces the company cost of production.
- Appropriate technology in controlling carbon (IV) oxide emission in the environment would reduce the cost that the company incurs in control of CO2 emission.
- Through proper waste management by the company it becomes beneficial to the community living around. Companies are entitled to social responsibility.
The coca cola company profile
- The website of coca cola company is http://us.coca-cola.com/
- The mission statement of Coca Cola Company is to refresh the world, create moments of happiness, through the creating of value and a difference in the market.
- This company majorly concentrates on production of soft drinks for refreshments. It has many brands of product that include, coca cola, Fanta among many other products.
- It is a global company and its headquarters is in the United States of America.
- There are CRS programs that are already in place such as recycling of bottles and joining of hands with an environmentally friendly organization to help in environmental conservation. Beatriz Perez is the chief sustainability of the North America.
How the issues are of concern to the community
The major community issue that arises from the coca cola company is environmental pollution. The environmental pollution can be grouped into two major categories. This Include release of greenhouse gasses to the atmosphere and increase of deposits of solid waste in the environment.
Plastic containers and bottle constitute the solid waste. These solid wastes have an effect on the human health. They can be breeding grounds for disease causing microorganisms. They may affect the community that live around in that broken glass bottle may result in cuts that may act as entry sites to pathogen hence affecting the human health. Since these plastic containers are non-biodegradable, people opt for the burning option which release Hazardous gasses to the environment.
The products that this company also produced should be safe for consumption to reduced health complications that may arise from consumption of unsafe products. This is about the community issue in that it deals with the community health. The company opts to produce safe product for consumption. It is the responsibility of the company to ensure that they produce safe product for consumption (Beer, 2010)
How these community issues are connected to the company
During the manufacture and transportation of Coca-Cola company products, there is a lot of pollution, which caused. The company manufactures Coca-Cola syrup in a secret form, which is transported to different countries. During the manufacture and transported of this syrup products, they cause pollution. The company produces carbon dioxide, which is the environmental pollutant. The carbon dioxide produced cause global warming effect. The company uses carbon (IV) oxide as a preservative during the consumption of the Coca-Cola products. This gas is detrimental to the environment as it increases the global warming effect. During the manufacturing process of Coca-Cola products, carbon dioxide is released into the environment.
It was estimated that the company released 13% of the total amount of carbon that was released into the environment. This amount was only from the industry dealing with the manufacture of coca cola products. At the value chain, the amount of carbon dioxide was estimated to be 8 percent. This added to the amount of carbon dioxide that was released into the environment. At the industries where the syrup is diluted, carbon dioxide is also released. At this level, the amount of carbon (IV) oxide that is released into the environment is estimated to be 12%. All this amount of gas increases the global warming effect (Beer, 2010).This is a big concern into the Coca-Cola Company, as this will affect the environment and the world in general. As the company has a social corporate, responsibility needs to take into consideration this issue. The company needs to look for a way that they can use to reduce this amount of carbon dioxide to reduce the global warming effect caused by the release of carbon dioxide into the environment.
Coca-Cola drinks also were found to contain pesticide. This is also another pollutant in the environment. In Britain Coca-Cola, drinks were tested and found to contain up to 300 times in tapping bottle water. In 2003, the tested Coca-Cola drinks in India were found to contain 0.0150mg/l. This was a higher percentage than the European commission limit. The residue was found to contain linden, Malathion, chlorphyrifons and the DDT. A pesticide is a dangerous pollutant (Beer, 2010). It is also dangerous to the human health. When consumed by human beings it affects their state of health. This will affect the skin and the stomach of Coca-Cola drink consumers. This also causes the skin and stomach cancer to the consumers. As the company has a social responsibility of concern about people’s health, it is wrong for the company to use ingredients that affect the people’s health. It needs to know the way of eliminating such products.
Specific programmes that the company can implement
All this pollution from Coca-Cola Company can be reduced by coming up with programs which has low cost and even no cost at all. The company is supposed to produce low carbon quantity to the environment, zero waste investments as it will be inspiring to change to more sustainability in the future. The company should work with a company like Carbon Trust Company which calculates the amount of carbon produced. This will help the company to be more environmentally friendly and responsible. In fact Coca-Cola Company produces a lot of carbon at packaging department and it should try to find ways to manage it. The business can decide to find ways to prevent environmental problems than trying to manage it after pollution
The industry should start to find ways of managing and reducing amount as well as weight of plastic bottles by almost 38.5%. This project will cause the company low amount of cash. Reduction of these kind of plastic bottles in the environment will reduce the amount of diseases affecting people in the society. These plastic bottles have been the cause of stress and problems for many years to the environment. These bottles can also be used again after they have been washed and disinfected for the same purpose. There is also a plan to use cans which are colorless which does not use pain. By use of this kind of cans reduces pollutants to the environment. When they are printed they are easily broken down for recycling other than removing the paint first. (Rahman, 2011)
The company should try to find a way of achieving its target by using 25% recycled material for their plastic bottles. They can also try to recycle their glass bottles to over 37%. Can also be recycled to about 50% since they are aluminum and easy to collect. This will cost the company zero cash. In 2015 the company is expected to introduce a plant bottle packaging. This will be a 100% recyclable material which will have been made partly from a sustainable plant material. This plant bottle packaging can really help the company reduce its reliance on the fossil fuels which are used for plastic production. The company is supposed to do anything and everything within its power to make sure they have gone green. They should also start using cotton for packaging their cans instead of plastic bags. This is because cotton is biodegradable and it can be used for other purposes afterwards.
The other top priority of the company is to reduce landfill. This is because almost 99.5% of the waste produced in the company can be recycled and only 0.5% be left to go to the landfill. This project will cost the company low amount of money. In the coming years the company can decide to join forces with different stakeholders like Waste and Resources Action Program so that they can create a national recycle zones. This will make the collection of waste by individuals easier as well as recycle, since these centers will have been well distributed. All one is supposed to do is collect this bottles and cans, transport them to places where they are recycled. People who will be doing this work will be well paid and they can be earning their living.
Use of technology can also be used by the company to cut down pollution from different corners. The chimneys can be filled with filters which will be treating the gas produced before it is released to the environment. The amount of gas can be really reduced when the right method and machines are used. It is unexpensive programe which will cost the company little amount of money. The company can decide to use an online re-cyclometer. It is a technique which can be designed to help people demonstrate positive effect of recycling can have on them as well as the environment. (Idowu, 2013)
The company can use technology to reduce the pollution. When the company adopts containers, which are easily biodegradable, it can minimize the pollution of the environment. The environment surrounding the company is very important as it determines the move of the company’s business. When the company adopts new technology in reducing the pollution it will enable the business transaction to take place without any problem. The company can produce drinks whose containers can easily decompose when drawn into the environment. This will not cost the company any amount of money. Technology can be used to make containers, which will not last long if they are exposed in the environment. The company can make the containers in such a way that after it has been used and do not contain any drink, they can decompose easily.
References
Beer, L. A. (2010). A strategic and tactical approach to global business ethics. New York, N.Y.] (222 East 46th Street, New York, NY 10017): Business Expert Press.
Fiji correspondence,. (20062007). Canberra, ACT: Pacific Manuscripts Bureau.
Huber, M., & Gorman, S. (2008). From customer retention to a holistic stakeholder management system: living a vision. Berlin: Springer.
Idowu, S. O. (2013). Encyclopedia of corporate social responsibility. Berlin: Springer.
Rahman, H. (2011). Cases on SMEs and Open Innovation Applications and Investigations.. New York: New york publishers.
