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Coca-Cola and its impacts on the environment

Research · September 2022

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.12101.12008

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Aji Lawal
Dr Tom Moerenhout
Business and The Environment
6 September 2022
Coca-Cola and the Environment
Coca Cola is a company that markets, manufactures and sells; beverage concentrates and
syrups and finished beverages (including sparkling soft drinks; water and sports drinks; juice, dairy
and plant based drinks; and tea and coffee). It was founded in1892 in Atlanta, Georgia by John
Stith Pemberton. Some of its brand names include; Fanta, Powerade, Dasani, FUZE TEA, Minute
Maid, Simply, Sprite, e.t.c.

Key Products and Markets :

Coca cola’s main source of revenue is generated from selling its concentrates made from its
secret recipe. 1As of 2020, 56% of their revenue was generated from selling concentrates and the
remaining 44% from selling their finished packaged products.

Most of coca-cola’s consumers and revenue are generated from North America. In the
United States, Coca-Cola was ranked as the top carbonated soft drink (CSD) company with a
volume share of almost 46.3% as of 2021. PepsiCo, Coca-Cola’s largest competitor, controlled
about a quarter of the American market.

1
Coca Cola Statistics - Coca Cola Facts, Stats, Trends & Data (2022) | WallStreetZen
Supply chain:
Most of Coca-Cola’s revenue is highly dependent on their relationship with their supply
chain as they are a global company that operates at a local level. The supply chain begins with the
procurement of locally sourced (such as beet sugar in Europe, cane sugar in Asia and corn syrup in
America) and water. They currently have around 225 bottling partners worldwide that;
manufacture, package, merchandise and distribute final branded beverages to customers and
vending partners. In the North America market, they have about 68 bottling bottlers. Coca-cola
also maintains the sustainability standards of their packaging and ingredients suppliers and bottling
stations using their supplier guiding principles which conducts 2500 audits annually.
Water pollution and Groundwater depletion:

92% of Coca-cola’s water usage stems from their agricultural supply chain and they rely on
third party validation and 2their supplier guiding principal audits to ensure their compliance with
Coca-cola’s sustainability requirements. Their ESG goals for 2030 with water include; 100%
regenerative water use in all leadership locations and advanced water efficiency improvements in
water-stressed contexts.
However, research shows that they are far away from achieving most of these goals and
initiatives they have been proposing. 3In 2019, many villages in rural areas across India were
holding Coca-Cola responsible for aggravating a drought that threatened groundwater supply.
Coca-Cola operates 58 water-intensive bottling plants in India. Some of these plants are located in
water crises zones like the southern Indian village of Plachimada in Kerala state, where recurrent
droughts have dried up local wells, forcing many residents to rely on water supplies trucked in
daily by the government. Coca-Cola’s oppressive history with rural Indian communities dates back
to 2003 when Coca-Cola was offloading cadmium-laden waste sludge as “free fertilizer” to tribal

2
Supplier Guiding Principles | The Coca-Cola Company
3
Coca-Cola Charged With Groundwater Depletion and Pollution in India
farmers who live near the plant. Indian government officials ordered the Mehdiganj plant closed in
the state of Uttar Pradesh in 2014, citing excessive groundwater pumping.
Coca-Cola’s response was that “a small number of politically motivated groups” are going
after the company “for the furtherance of their own anti-multinational agenda.” It denies that its
actions in India have contributed to depleting local aquifers, and calls allegations “without any
scientific basis.” They have since undertaken a water replacement program, but unusually dry
monsoons highlight the reality that water depletion continues to be a serious issue. 4Coca-Cola
hired Atul Singh who was a key player in India during the groundwater controversy as one of their
group presidents and committed to supporting the building of water infrastructure near Coca-Cola
plants. They were praised in the Washington post as an example of a company that realised the
essentialism of sustainability to their business plan and successfully tackled it.
5
In 2015, Coca-Cola announced that it had reached water neutrality; meaning every drop of
water in each bottle was put back out by investing in a water initiative. However, an article from
6
The Verge, claims that there have been efforts within Coca-Cola and its partners to engage in
shifty water accounting that would slash nearly half of the Water Footprint off for every half-liter
of Coke. By adopting “net green” water use instead of “green” water use to measure water
footprint, they could subtract the amount of water natural vegetation might need if a Coca-Cola
agricultural venture hadn’t replaced it. In situations where pre-existing natural vegetation used
more water than the crop that replaced it, there was the opportunity to reduce their overall water
footprint despite industrial-scale links to water pollution and other water crises. The nearly 2
billion liters of water Coca-Cola offset in 2015 barely cover its “operational water,” which is a
small percentage of its Water Footprint. When they say returning “every drop,” they’re referring
only to the water that actually fits into each bottle or can of its beverages, which takes 35 liters of
water to produce. This poses an important question on the distinction between operational and total
water use in relation to water neutrality.
Coca-Cola also faced allegations on their ability to deliver on their promise to offset their
water usage as certain projects aren’t properly vetted to ensure their claims are supported by
science. In Mexico, Coca-Cola and one of its bottlers financed forestry work that included the
digging of infiltration trenches meant to ensure sufficient water to the saplings. Coca-Cola has
claimed to finance over 5 million trenches in national parks and other forests around Mexico.
However, these projects have come under fire for causing damage to some of the country’s most
iconic national parks. Conafor (the Mexican government’s forestry commission) discontinued the
use of these trenches as scientific studies conducted showed that the practice did not improve
growing conditions, but increased erosion and forest degradation instead. However, in Coke’s
replenishment report in April 2017, they continued to count these discredited projects towards its
initiatives to offset water usage through 2023. Of the total 221.7 billion liters of water that
Coca-Cola estimates it restored to nature worldwide in 2016, the Mexican trench projects equals

4
How Coca-Cola came to terms with its own water crisis - The Washington Post
5
Water Conservation & Stewardship | The Coca-Cola Company
6
Inside the bad math that lets Coca-Cola say it gives back all the water it uses - The Verge
nearly 6 percent of its worldwide replenishment claims and about 7.5 percent of its worldwide
watershed protection investments. Coke’s press release heralded their success in achieving water
neutrality despite these accounting issues; claiming that the 191.9 billion liters returned “to nature”
in 2015 had allowed the company to achieve “balance” five years ahead of schedule.Going by the
one full Water Footprint study Coca-Cola conducted, nearly 99 percent of its water use is left
unaccounted for ; considering that not all of the company’s offset projects actually “return” water
to nature, by their own admission.
Other efforts by Coca-Cola such as partnerships with The Nature Conservancy (TNC)
faced backlash as both parties failed to disclose the total amount of money given to the nonprofit to
carry out conservation work; and provide counsel to develop the methodology the company uses
for the questionable report Coca-Cola publishes annually to share its water-related initiatives.
Experts such as Dutch scientist Arjen Hoekstra that have worked with Coca-Cola have suggested
that rather than offsetting more water, it needs to get serious about reducing the water needs of its
products that includes targets for their supply chains.

Plastic Pollution:

Early 2018 Coca-Cola embarked on a new “World Without Waste” initiative to tackle
packaging; describing its promise to use 50 percent recycled content and to recycle “the
equivalent” of 100 percent of packaging by 2030, a bid, the company said, to usher in a “circular
economy.”
 According to an article published by Greenpeace organization which is an independent
global campaigning network, 7 brand audits and worldwide cleanups showed Coca-cola to be the
world’s worst plastic polluter for the third year in a row. As of December 2020, no matter where
you stand or walk, even by the ocean, you are very likely to find Coke-branded plastic posing a
threat to our environment. 8A significant portion of this waste is generated in Mexico because the
country is one of the largest Coca-Cola. Due to an absence of efficient waste management
infrastructure, mismanaged plastic waste is often burned in open dumps in developing nations.
Estimates of the annual emissions just from mismanaged plastic waste created by Coca-Cola is
estimated to be 2.5 million metric tons across just six nations (Nigeria, China, Brazil, The
Philippines, Mexico, and India). This is considerably higher than its rival PepsiCo. Coca-Cola has
also been accused of announcing splashy packaging pledges, only to abandon them later, a charge
reminiscent of the company’s water neutrality work a decade ago, when Coca-Cola assessed the
Water Footprint of its PET plastic bottles but never moved forward with offsetting water in its
packaging. The company’s sustainability goals are also noticeably weak in addressing the urgency
that is the climate crisis in comparison to other industry giants such as McDonald’s who plans to
make 100 percent of its packaging with renewable, recycled, or certified sources by 2025. For
many years , Coca-Cola and other consumer goods companies have relied on the myth of recycling
to avoid responsibility for this pollution. They have over exaggerated the effectiveness of recycled
content as a way to continue perpetuating a culture of over-reliance on harmful single-use plastics.
This puts the responsibility on consumers to clean up their trash, while refusing to recognize that
their plastic problem is beyond being solved by recycling or clean up initiatives.

7
Coca-Cola it’s time to stop your pollution at source - Greenpeace International
8
Coca-Cola's GHG emissions worldwide 2021 | Statista
Greenhouse gas emissions;
Coca-Cola's global greenhouse gas emissions 2010-2021

Coca-Cola’s greenhouse gas emissions goals include 9reducing their overall emissions by
25% by 2030 and achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. They also set a goal in 2013 to achieve
25% reduction of the carbon footprint of the “drink in your hand” to take a bigger step toward
reducing greenhouse gas emissions across their full value chain. ​They claimed to have met their 2020
goal to cut our carbon footprint by 25% by the end of 2020, against a 2010 baseline.
Data from 10Global Data insides show that the company is barely making a dent in its efforts
to combat its total GHG emissions as its Scope 1 & 2 emissions in 2021 were an equivalent of 5.17
million tonnes CO2 equivalents (MtCO2eq), an increase of 8% from 2020. Scope 1 is described as
“direct GHG emissions from energy generated from fossil fuels and refrigerants” while scope 2
includes indirect GHG emissions from “on-site generation and purchase of electricity. Their 2021

9
Climate Action | The Coca-Cola Company
10
Coca-Cola: Greenhouse Gas Emissions in 2021 - GlobalData
 research found that Coca-Cola’s Scope 2 emissions form around 69% of its total GHG emissions,
while Scope 1 accounted for around 31% of the total GHG emissions.
Coca-Cola’s plastic addiction is also exacerbating greenhouse gas emissions with its
packaging.11As the fossil fuel industry’s profitability continues to be undermined by worldwide
action against greenhouse gas emissions, it has found its redemption in plastics and a long-term
partner in consumer goods companies like Coca-Cola. Given the volume of plastic usage in its
product packaging , the company generates as much CO2 as two large coal generating
plants.According to scientists, packaging already accounts for 40% of total plastic demand, and the
industry would like nothing more than to increase that dependence.
If the fossil fuel industry continues to develop new extraction and processing capacity to meet
the predicted plastics demand growth, society could become trapped into a cycle of high emissions,
and the necessary 1.5 °C capstone goal to avoid the worst impacts of climate change will be
impossible to meet.

Environmental management:

Water Soil GHG Deforestati Marine Loss of Loss of Ozone Househol Industrial Light/noise
polluti & emissio on & life species biodive layer d waste waste pollution
on land ns logging depletion rsity deplet
pollut ion
ion

Directly Critical High High None None None None None High Very None
from high
Coca-cola

The Critical High Critical Low High Medium Low Low High High None
coca-cola
system
(supply
chain)

Total Critical High Very Very Low Medium Low Very Very High Very None
Company High Low Low High

Earth Island Institute, a non-profit environmental organization, 12filed a complaint alleging

that Coca-Cola is deceiving the public by marketing itself as sustainable and environmentally
friendly while “polluting more than any other beverage company and actively working to prevent
effective recycling measures in the U.S.” According to the Complaint, Coca-Cola is the world’s
leading plastic waste producer, generating 2.9 million tons of plastic waste per year. It uses about
200,000 plastic bottles per minute which is 1/5th of the polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottle
output in the world. There are also systematic problems with looking to recycling as the solution to
11
Production, use, and fate of all plastics ever made | Science Advances
12
Coca-Cola Sued For Deceptive Sustainability Claims
the plastic problem as only about 30 percent of them are actually recyclable. Despite having
knowledge on the relative futility of recycling initiatives in causing significant change, it has
sought to convince the public that it is viable and results in waste reduction. According to the
complaint, Coca-Cola participated in enforcing an ineffective recycling strategy, and took
steps─such as actively fighting legislation that would impose small fees on plastic bottle purchase
and improve recycling rates. This coincides with Bartow J. Elmore’s Citizen Coke where he
admonished the company’s maintenance of a “Coca-Cola Capitalism”; where it chases an
unsustainable and outdated idea of perpetual growth in the endless pursuit of selling more products
next year than it did the previous year. He described the company’s business model as
“symptomatic of the economy that is ecologically unsound”.
For Coca-Cola to rectify its historically problematic past for environmentally irresponsible
tactics, it will immediately end its toxic relationship with the fossil fuel industry and reliance on
single-use plastics. It is imperative for Coca-Cola to take proactive steps to invest in systems of
reuse that eliminate the burden of toxic plastic pollution from these communities so they have
access to cleaner air and water, and thrive in their homes.The only refillable bottles you can buy in
the United States are in 13El Paso Texas through a small project led by a Coke bottler based in
Mexico. For Coca-Cola to achieve any tangible progress in its climate commitments, it has to
restructure its business model to eliminate its participation and reliance on the expansion of the
fossil fuel industry that risks locking the world in a cycle of high emissions inflaming the climate
crisis. It is paramount for Coca-Cola to buy into refill and reuse systems for its products for the
world to have a chance of survival.By turning to refillables, the company can dramatically reduce
plastic pollution because the bottles are returned and reused and will not be, as a matter of course,
thrown away. Just a 10% increase in the 14share of refillables could prevent as many as 7.6 billion
(liter equivalent) single-use plastic bottles from entering the ocean every year.

13
Refillable Bottles in El Paso, Texas
14
Just One Word: Refillables - Oceana
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Baroni, Megan. “Coca-Cola Sued for Deceptive Sustainability Claims.” The National Law Review,
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https://www.natlawreview.com/article/coca-cola-sued-deceptive-sustainability-claims.
Carmichael, Barie, and Brian Moriarty. “Analysis | How Coca-Cola Came to Terms with Its Own
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View publication stats

“What Is Coca-Cola Doing to Stop the Marine Litter Polluting Our Oceans?” The Coca-Cola
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