Plastic Collective: Coca-Cola's Sustainability Marketing and Management

This report discusses the collaboration between Coca-Cola and Plastic Collective to reduce plastic waste and promote sustainability. It covers the importance of Plastic Collective, Coca-Cola's sustainability strategy, and the implementation of the strategy through planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. The report also discusses the issues faced by Plastic Collective and the alternative strategies used to address them.

Running Head: PLASTIC COLLECTIVE 0
COCA-COLA COMPANY
Sustainability Marketing and Management
Student
5/22/2019

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Executive Summary
The world is suffering from the problem of plastic waste. Plastic waste is a web that is
destroying the beauty of natural resources. Moreover, with an increase in the consumption
level, many big companies are using plastic in their products as they can manufactured with
ease, and is affordable. However, they are creating an adverse impact on the ecosystem, as
they are not decomposed easily. Therefore, to deal with this and curb its usage in packaging,
Coca Cola Company who is the largest soft drink company has come in the collaboration with
Plastic Collective Company. To make an effective change Coca-Cola has done various
modifications in their soft drinks and has adopted the sustainability strategy, which will be
discussed in the report.

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Contents
Introduction...........................................................................................................................................3
A. About Plastic Collective...............................................................................................................3
B. Importance of plastic collective not only from the point of view of environmental
sustainability but also the contribution of PC to an economy....................................................4
C. Overview of Coca Cola Company as a plastic collective firm......................................................5
D. Plastic Collective Sustainability-related strategy of Coca Cola Company...................................6
1. Analysis of Sustainability- Related Strategy of Coca Cola Company.......................................6
2. Sustainability issues faced by the Plastic Collective:...............................................................7
E. Alternative Strategy are used to address the issues...................................................................8
F. Strategy implementation by Coca Cola Company.......................................................................8
 Planning:..................................................................................................................................9
 Organizing................................................................................................................................9
 Leading.....................................................................................................................................9
 Controlling...............................................................................................................................9
Conclusion............................................................................................................................................10
Bibliography.........................................................................................................................................11

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Introduction
Plastic is a non- biodegradable waste, which is toxic for our ecosystem. It is not only spreading
like a disease on the global level but it is also destroying the aquatic life under the sea. As per
the report issued on the “World Earth Day” in 2018, they are about more than 8 million tons of
plastic material is dumped in the marine on a yearly basis. (LAMB, Joleah B et al., 2018) Due to
the great dependency of the population over the plastic, there has been an adverse impact on
the life and health of living organisms as they do not decay effortlessly and continue to menace
life on earth.
A. About Plastic Collective
To curb the negative impact of plastics, Louise Hardman a zoologist and an environmentalist
from Australia, started a Plastic Collective business. The motto behind this business is to
eliminate the usage of plastic material by increasing awareness among the society and
encouraging innovative ideas. To fight from the plastic waste, she invented a recycling and re-
using Shruder machine through which plastic can be recycled easily and organized various
training program on the development of plastic as a beneficial material. (Empowering
Communities To Transform Plastic Waste, 2019)

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B. Importance of plastic collective not only from the point of view of environmental
sustainability but also the contribution of PC to an economy
Plastic pollution has become a major concern (CHRIS, Wilcox et al., 2015) and is creating a
threatening situation for the environment. Therefore, it is necessary to implement Plastic
collective activity. Moreover, it is very important for the sustainable development of the
society. The foundation of the Plastic Collective is based on 2 important pillars that are:
 With the help of education, Plastic Collective wants to encourage the society to take the action
against the waste.
 The company is putting more emphasis on innovative ideas and design for the better usage of
plastic waste.

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Source: (The Shruder Program, 2019)
The company has addressed the various issue of plastic waste in the remote areas, which lack
the proper structure of waste management. Therefore, Louise Hardman, who is a founder of
the Plastic collective, introduced the Shruder machine, as it is one of the best tools for
providing filament and moulded items by e-waste recycling. It is very useful for the waste
management as it can transform plastic waste into something usable and valuable. This
material can be applied in the production of 3D printers and in the building articles. These
machines are movable and help in saving the transport-cost in isolated places and remote
areas. The company has introduced the Shruder program to train and give knowledge to the
people about the recycling method of e –waste and producing new material. It aims to spread
the program in more than 4000 faraway and isolated areas so that it can bring the positive
transformation in the economy.

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To bring the effective transformation, the Plastic collective is working with the Coca Cola
Company who is a top soft drink brand. Plastic collective company sold its first Shruder MKII to
the Coca Cola Company Australia, which performs dual operations and recycles the one-time
use plastics products. (HIGGINS , Colins et al., 2015)
C. Overview of Coca Cola Company as a plastic collective firm
Coca Cola Company is one of the most valuable and popular soft drink. Currently, Coca Cola
Company is operating in more than 200 countries and is creating value for its customer by
providing 500 brands. In Australia, the production and distribution of Coca Cola soft drinks done
under Coca Cola Amatil. Brands like Coca Cola, Coca Cola sugar and Fanta are the most
consumed drinks in Australia. (Coca Cola on social, 2017)
However, the company is facing the major issue regarding the usage of plastic in the
manufacturing of the soft drink as plastic is creating a destructive impact on the earth . Plastic
bottles, cans and containers have become a major issue in sustainable development.
Therefore, to protect an environment and to bring an effective change, Coca Cola Company has
taken a pledge to solve this issue in the collaboration with “Keep Australia Beautiful” and
“Plastic Collective”. Moreover, to protect the beauty of Australia, Coca Cola Company has done
various modifications in their drinks. The company has re-launched its brands with low sugar
drinks and is focusing to attain the goal of a 10% reduction of sugar by the end of 2020. It is
working on the mission to create the pollution-free environment by recycling and restoring the
water and plastic material that is used in production. Therefore, with the help of such
innovations, Coca Cola Company provides employment opportunities to more than 7,00,000

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people thus contributing to the economic development in Australia. To protect the
environment from plastic pollution Coca Cola Company has prepared a sustainability strategy
(Collect. Transform. Create. How Plastic Collective and Coca-Cola are Collaborating in the
Circular Economy, 2019).
D. Plastic Collective Sustainability-related strategy of Coca Cola Company
In today, scenario plastic has become one of the major root causes of pollution. Plastic waste is
hampering the growth, and development of our society. In Australia, to eradicate plastic from
the system, Coca Cola Company has planned various strategies.
1. Analysis of Sustainability- Related Strategy of Coca Cola Company
Australia, which is known for its beauty and beaches, is now facing a major issue of Plastic
Pollution. From the last 10 years, the consumption of plastic containing products has shown an
alarming increase of 170%. (Collect. Transform. Create. How Plastic Collective and Coca-Cola
are Collaborating in the Circular Economy, 2019) This has created a situation of disturbance, as
the plastic is polluting the environment and endangering marine life. Therefore, Coca Cola
Company has taken the responsibility to make its product better than before. Its goal is to
revamp the influence of plastic packaging on the ecosystem in the association with suppliers
and stakeholders. They are working together to make a change in society. The company has
started the campaign “World without Waste” to achieve the 3 main goals of the company:
 To attain the goal of 100% reprocess packaging of bottles and cans by 2025 on the global level
and to re-use the 50% of the plastic material in the production by 2030. (THATI, Vamsi Mohan,
2019)

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 Assembling all the cans and bottles for the process of recycling so that the company can re-use
the plastic material in the production of the soft drink ,and
 From 2020, the company has decided to save and reuse 16000 metric tonnes of plastic waste
every year. Moreover, it is a cost effective technique, as the company will not depend on the
new plastic material for the packaging and distribution of soft drinks (World without waste,
2018).
In 2017, the company attained the target of reducing the plastic by introducing 59% recycled
bottles in the market and in Mexico they have manufactured 74.9% recycled packaging for their
products. The company is focusing on the bottles of their soft drinks. They are re-thinking of
producing their bottles by recycling them. The company has adopted a circular economy in
which there are four stages 1) Make, 2) Use, 3) Dispose and 4) Re-use. (World without waste,
2018).
The company knows that people are becoming environment conscious. It believes that
consumers expect the company to produce great leaders and help the environment to become
pollution-free. Consumers around the world care about our planet.
2. Sustainability issues faced by the Plastic Collective:
As plastic packaging is easy to manufacture, many large companies are using plastic packaging
for their products. However, with the alarming population and urbanization there has been an
increased in the consumption of the product, which has increased the chances of plastic waste
(SONG, Qingbin et al., 2015).

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 Louise noticed that 11 million tons of plastic and dumped and burned on a yearly basis. She
witnessed that due to low infrastructure facilities on the islands, new plastic material is used in
the production, as there is little scope of recycling (FLAMMER, Caroline and Luo, Jiao, 2015).
 Plastic issue is one of the major issues faced in the remote and small areas and islands: Small
communities are facing this problem, as there are no proper waste management facilities.
Plastic waste is not only affecting the tourist culture on the beautiful islands, but also
hampering the growth and development of the islands. All these factors are contributing to the
issue of poverty.
E. Alternative Strategy are used to address the issues
In 2016, to deal with the plastic issues Louise prepared a recycling machine that is a Shruder
machine. Through the Shruder machine, plastic is shred and then converted into cords so that
can be re-used easily. It is light -weight machine which can be carried and transported in
remote and isolated areas where there is no proper waste management activities are
performed. Plastic Collective also provides educational training which includes a six-stage
program that is shredding, re-designing, manufacturing and then supplying (Meet my team :
Plastic Collective, 2018). Shruder machines are used to recycle the household and marine waste
so it can be employ for different purposes. The aim behind conducting the Shruder program is
to encourage the society by helping them in the innovation of plan and giving them, knowledge
on the creation of equipment has and machines (Empowering Communities To Transform
Plastic Waste, 2019).

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F. Strategy implementation by Coca Cola Company
The main goal of the company is to eradicate plastic waste for the system. To deal with this
threat, company has adopted management theory that is planning, organizing, leading and
controlling.
 Planning:
The objective of Coca Cola Company is to free the world from the web of plastic. From the last
years, plastic packaging has become more complex. Therefore, to deal with such complexity,
Coca Cola Company has committed to bringing changes in the packaging of their bottles and
cans. The company is working to make a positive impact by making its bottles 100% recycled by
the end of 2030.
 Organizing
Coca Cola Company has innovated many ideas in the creation of its recycle bottles and cans.
Coca Cola Company has come into partnership with Plastic collective so that they together find
possible solutions to re- cycle and re-use the existing plastic. They are launching their 600ml
recycled bottles in different brands like Fanta and Coke.
 Leading
The company is working together as a team. Coca Cola believes in taking risk and care for the
well -being of the stakeholders. The company understands its corporate social responsibility by
recycling the used plastic materials.

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 Controlling
Coca-Cola is putting efforts to make an effective improvement in society. The company has
progressed, and is fulfilling its commitments. Until now, the company is manufacturing every 7th
bottle from the recycled material, Company promotes composite bins schemes so that the
public dumps the plastic waste or any other waste in those bins so that people do not litter the
oceans and land.

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Conclusion
Through the above report this can be inferred that, though plastic has become a major part of
our life, it has various hazardous effects that are hampering and vanishing the beauty of our
earth. Therefore, to reduce its negative impact, the plastic collective has taken initiative with
the Coca Cola Company. They are working together to make effective sustainability related
changes in society.
Bibliography

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BACHMAN, Bonnie J, Shristy BASHYAL, and Margaret BAUMANN. 2012. Sustainability in the
plastics industry: concerns, issues, and strategies. Polimeri., pp.6-11.
CHRIS, Wilcox, Van Sebille ERIK, and Hardesty Britta DENISE. 2015. Threat of plastic pollution to
sea birds,is global pervasive and increasing. Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences of the United States of America, 2015,., pp.11899-11904.
Coca Cola on social. 2017. [online]. [Accessed 2019]. Available from World Wide Web:
<https://www.coca-colajourney.com.au/our-way-forward>
Collect. Transform. Create. How Plastic Collective and Coca-Cola are Collaborating in the Circular
Economy. 2019. [online]. [Accessed 2019]. Available from World Wide Web:
<https://www.coca-colajourney.com.au/stories/how-plastic-collective-and-coca-cola-are-
collaborating-in-the-circular-economy>
Earth Day 2018 | End Plastic Pollution. 2018. [online]. [Accessed 2019]. Available from World
Wide Web: <https://www.earthday.org/2018/04/05/fact-sheet-plastics-in-the-ocean/
#_ftn1>
Empowering Communities To Transform Plastic Waste. 2019. [online]. [Accessed 2019].
Available from World Wide Web: <https://www.plasticcollective.co/mission>
FLAMMER, Caroline and Jiao LUO. 2015. Corporate social responsibility as an employee
governance tool: Evidence from a quasi‐experiment. Strategic Managment Journal., pp.163-
183.

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HIGGINS , Colins, Markus J. MILNE, and Bernadine Van GRAMBERG. 2015. The Uptake of
Sustainability Reporting in Australia. Business Ethics., pp.445-468.
JAMBECK, Jenna R, Roland GEYER, Chris WILCOX et al. 2015. Plastic waste inputs from land into
the ocean. Science., pp.768-771.
LAMB, Joleah B, Bette L WILLIS, Evan A FIORENZA et al. 2018. Plastic waste associated with
disease. Science., pp.460-462.
Meet my team : Plastic Collective. 2018. [online]. [Accessed 2019]. Available from World Wide
Web: <https://diyodemag.com/columns/going_pro_plastics_recovery>
SONG, Qingbin, Jinhui LI, and Xianlai ZENG. 2015. Minimizing the increasing solid waste through
zero waste strategy. Journal of cleaner production., pp.199-210.
THATI, Vamsi Mohan. 2019. How Coca-Cola in Australia is working toward a world without
waste. [online]. [Accessed 2019]. Available from World Wide Web: <https://www.coca-
colajourney.com.au/stories/coca-cola-australia-working-towards-world-without-waste>
The Shruder Program. 2019. [online]. [Accessed 2019]. Available from World Wide Web:
<https://www.plasticcollective.co/brochure>
World without waste. 2018. [online]. [Accessed 2019]. Available from World Wide Web:
<https://www.coca-colacompany.com/content/dam/journey/us/en/private/fileassets/
pdf/2019/world-without-waste-report-2-6-19.pdf>

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