Coca-Cola UK’s Sustainable Packaging Strategy Assignment Sample

Subject Name : Marketing

Table of Contents

Section-1.
Section 2.
Section 3.
Reference List

Innovations in Food Packaging - Section-1

This report will provide an overview on Coca-Cola UK’s sustainable packaging strategy. Coca-Cola is a company which is committed towards following sustainability in all it’s business strategies and activities. In the year 2018 Coca-Cola UK started an initiative towards recovering all its packaging in order to keep up with its efforts of maintaining sustainability in it’s packaging system. The company wanted to use recycled material as much as possible in the packaging.

The packaging system of a beverage company should always be sustainable because of the volume of packaging required. The strategy highlights the major areas which Coca-Cola focused on in order to incorporate more sustainability in its packaging. As the company decided to recover all it’s packaging it was going to be a difficult job. Coca-Cola partnered with several organizations and local authorities to achieve its goal of recovering packaging. However, the European business strategy also had similar aims in order to maintain sustainability of packaging by companies across Europe. Coca-Cola worked closely with the government and European union to achieve its aims of recycling packaging material and using sustainable packaging material (Jones and Comfort, 2018).

Fig.1 Coca-cola's sustainable packaging

(Source: Skoda and Skoda, 2020)

The issue of micro plastics and nurdles in the environment requires more awareness. Coca-Cola UK collaborated with the British Plastics Federation to follow the Operation clean Sweep framework led by them. The Operation Clean Sweep provided guidelines to help businesses understand and minimise the risk of micro plastic losses in their working. Coca-Cola is incorporating this technology in their entire supply chain and in all of their sites.

Among other factors that have facilitated the sustainable packaging programme of the company in the UK are it’s Deposit Return Schemes. The DRS refers to the collection rates of used packaging in the beverage industry and the level of beverage package littering. The DRS rates are extremely low across the UK and recycling rates high. Thus the company has a greater opportunity of changing the recovery levels of beverage packaging. The government has also been supportive of the company’s intentions of implementing a sustainable scheme in its packaging (Operation Clean Sweep | Ethical Corporation, 2020).

For the implementation of this scheme a different sort of collection approach is required. This would need the purchasers to return the packaging from where it is sold. Thus it is going to impact the retailers as well as the household waste and recycling collection people and support from them will make the job much easier. To successfully implement the scheme certain regulations have to be followed:

The scheme should be easy for the public to understand
They have to be refunded fully when they return the packaging
The scheme has to be set up in a professional mode

Following these regulations will help to minimise costs and prevent fraudulent measures. It will also improve the recycling rates and help in the success of the entire scheme.

The Innovative Approach

Coca-Cola has been following a sustainable approach in its packaging policy since 1991 when it first used recycled bottles in its packaging. In 2018 the packaging used by the company contained 25% of recycled material and it had a plan to increase this to 505 within 2020. The company uses a kind of packaging known as Glaceau smartwater Plantbottle which is fully recyclable and made from plant based materials (Coca-Cola turns to Intelligent Packaging to resolve drinks’ packaging waste, 2020). The company has a large recycling plant in Lincolnshire. The bottles used in Coca- Cola’s packaging are not single use and can be reused to make new ones.

Innovations in Food Packaging - Section-2

What is the Operation Clean Sweep?

The Operation Clean Sweep is an international initiative which is intended towards preventing the loss of plastic during industrial processes or usage by any entities. It was implemented in Europe in 2015. The program has helped several companies in correcting their plastic usage. The European OCS abides by six important commitments:

Improvement of industrial site set ups to prevent plastic spills
Publish internal procedures to ensure zero industrial plastic loss
Train employees and maintain accountability on spill prevention, disposal and clean up done by them
Performance of audits regularly
Follow all local and state guidelines for industrial plastics containment
Encouragement of partners to pursue the same goals (Operation Clean Sweep | Ethical Corporation, 2020).

An Introduction to OCS by British Plastics Federation

The OCS initiative by the British Plastics Federation aims at achieving zero losses of plastic flakes, pellets and powders while industrial manufacturing processes by companies in the UK. Also, the company has to ensure minimal plastic littering so that it does not end up in undesirable places and pollute the environment. By signing the OCS companies commit to adherence to best practices and implementation of systems to prevent plastic losses and plastic pollution of the environment. The reasons why the OCS framework is different from any other sustainable policies related to plastic recycling and management are:

It provides businesses an understanding of the risks associated with plastic losses during industrial processes
It maximizes the use of feed stock
Prevention of any falls and slips
It leads to improvement in operational efficacy
Ensures adherence with policies and regulations
Improves quality of environment, water bodies and wildlife
It protects the reputation of companies in sustainability maintenance
It helps companies in implementing sustainability in the entire supply chain

How Coca-Cola UK has adhered to the Operation Clean Sweep framework?

Coca-Cola uses maximum recycled material in its manufacturing process which was 25% in the year 2018
The Deposit Returns Scheme by the company completely aligns with the OCS framework
Coca-Cola has run various recycling campaigns for preventing environmental damage such as the ‘Recycle Me’ messaging on bottle caps and projects with WWF and the Rivers Trust
It is supporting causes against plastic littering such as Keep Britain Tidy, Keep Scotland Beautiful, Keep Wales Tidy and participation in Great British Spring Clean (Operation Clean Sweep | Ethical Corporation, 2020)

Inspiring Consumers in The Process

Coca-Cola has made it evident in their policies that consumers have a huge role to play in achieving their cause of sustainable packaging. The company has always inspired customers to recycle packaging. It has always supported campaigns and causes for collecting packaging to be recycled so that they do not litter up in undesirable places. Coca-Cola is constantly investing in all sorts of recycling and sustainability campaigns. Now the company clearly spreads the ‘Please recycle’ message in its packaging . In 2018 these bottles will be circulated in the entire UK.

Boosting Sustainability Through Packaging

Coca-Cola has achieved sustainability in it’s packaging by using the OCS and Deposit Returns scheme:

Presently all of the company’s packaging contains 100% recyclable material
At the end of 2019 98.3% of the company’s packaging was found to be recyclable
Since 2007 the weight of the company’s packaging has decreased by 27% and the company now puts in only 15% of new packaging
The world’s largest and most sophisticated reprocessing plant was built by the company in 2011 at Lincolnshire
In 2018 the average numbers of the company were 25% of recycled plastic in bottles, 42% of recycled aluminum in cans and 56% recycled glass in glass bottles
The company intends to further increase the numbers by 2025

Working Towards Achievement of Sustainability Aims

In recent years significant progress has been observed in improvement of sustainability of Coca-Cola UK’s packaging. Now the packaging of Coca-Cola is much lighter in weight and is made with 100% recyclable material. People in the UK are still expecting more sustainable ventures on the company’s part. So, the company decided to review its entire sustainability program. It has taken in feedback from consumers among which 63% has supported the Deposit Returns scheme and 51% are of the view that they are more likely to recycle because of this scheme. The brand is constantly focusing on its sustainable packaging strategy by collaborating with various other brands who support sustainable causes as well (Allen, 2015).

The World Without Waste Campaign

Coca-Cola believes that beverage packaging is a significant part of modern life but discarded packaging takes a toll on the environment and communities. In 2018 the company announced a goal to collect and recycle the equivalent of all sold bottles worldwide within 2030. The rise in litter of plastic in undesirable places is a serious issue of environmental concern. Through investment in the World Without Waste campaign Coca-Cola intends to tackle environmental issues which arise out of food and beverage packaging. Due to its brand value and its presence across communities it will be easier for the company to inspire people. The company wants to spread the message that plastic, aluminum and glass always can be reused and recycled. Coca-Cola aims at making recycling both accessible and easy for people. In 2011 it set up the largest recycling facility, the Clean Tech plant at Lincolnshire. The company will expand the production capabilities of the plant further. It will make sure that by the end of 2020 all of its plastic packaging in Britain contains more than 50% recycled plastic (Kroesen). Two of the biggest goals of the company currently are: Preventing litter of plastic in undesirable places and Boosting sustainability in packaging. Apart from recycling it is doing other things as well to keep up with its goals and missions. It is refining its packaging, funding partnerships and supporting recycling programs such as WWF and River Trust, working with organizations such as Britain Plastics Federation and New Plastics Economy, sponsoring clean up campaigns such as International coastal cleanup etc.

Fig.2 The Coca-cola Company

(Source: World Without Waste | Making the future more sustainable | Coca-Cola GB, 2020)

Taking Action

There is no country in the world that gets back 100% of its food and beverage packaging. But that is the vision which Coca-Cola has in mind. In order to fulfill this it is focusing on three main areas:

Using a sustainable approach in entire packaging system
Using the various brands and advertisements to inspire more people to recycle
Calling for reforming of UK’s recycling system and supporting other schemes that can help in increasing recovery rates for recycling such as the Deposit Returns Scheme

Coca-Cola uses more recycled plastic than any other food or drink company. As per the company’s target if the numbers double this year from 25% to 50% of recycled plastic in the packaging it will mean that around one billion plastic bottles are turned into new ones. However, in the present scenario the numbers can’t go above 50%. For this thing to happen more companies have to show cautiousness and take up causes towards sustainable practices and plastic recycling.

The Love Story Advertising Campaign

This advertisement campaign by Coca-Cola became a huge success reaching around 35 million people in Britain. It tells the story of two love-struck plastic bottles who got separated but were reunited as they were disposed of correctly and then recycled. This campaign helped in spreading awareness among people about recycling and its benefits

Finally, it is important to understand that the present recycling system in the country has to be reformed in order to reduce litter and find ways that will make recovery and recycling an easy job. It is not a one-day task however Coca-Cola’s brand value and presence has allowed it to reach millions of people across the country and inspire them to recycle. It is closely working with the government and organizations to fulfill its mission. One of the most significant schemes in Coca-Cola’s sustainable management program is the Deposit Returns Scheme. The company is inspiring other organizations to explore the merits and demerits of this scheme and implement such a method in their functioning as well. Not only will such a scheme boost the plastic recycling process but also help the organization to follow a complete sustainable packaging system. Another recent initiative by Coca-Cola UK is an on the go bottle recovery and reward program. The company wants to understand if a small incentive program would actually influence more people to undertake recycling. All these actions will bring a real difference in the long term.

Real Time Sustainable Packaging

Implementing a sustainable packaging scheme not only means recycling efforts. It is about going right to the beginning of the packaging process to view all the materials and ensure sustainability in each and every material used. However, increasing the quantity of recycled material is the most important aspect of this process. The bottles of Coca-Cola which use 100% recyclable material are known as Glaceau Smartwater bottles. The company wants to increase recycled plastic used in bottles from 25% to 50%. In the present situation it is not possible to go above 50% because there isn’t enough availability of food grade quality recycled plastic. The company has long term plans of increasing the percentage above 50 as soon as a new technology is available.

The company has also switched from plastic wraps to cardboard for packaging of cans. This was a part of the company’s initiative to remove all plastic from its supply chain across entire West Europe. This way around 4000 tons of plastic can be removed from the company’s supply chain. Coca-Cola has also decided to change the green color of Sprite’s plastic bottles which will make it easier to recycle them. Also since 2007 the weight of the plastic packaging has also reduced (Jones and Comfort, 2018).

Fig. 3 Coca-cola packaging

(Source: Everything you need to know about our packaging | Packaging and recycling | Coca-Cola GB, 2020)

Advertising and Branding

At present 70% of plastic bottles in the UK are recycled. So there is a lot to be done yet. Coca-Cola’s innovative branding and advertisement strategies have helped encourage millions of people towards recycling. Ad campaigns such as Love story, #CokeDunks, Across the tracks and Round in circles have inspired a lot of people. Also the company has been spreading the message ‘please recycle me’ through its bottles which is an unique and innovative approach.

New Ways of Recovering Packaging

The company is always open to explore new technologies of recovering packaging because the more can be recovered, the more can be put back in the process. The ‘Marine Plastic Bottle” was a venture by Coca-Cola in collaboration with Ioniqa technologies, Indorama ventures and Mares circulates for retrieving low grade plastic from the Mediterranean sea and the beaches and refining the quality so that it can be used in beverage packaging. The company created an entire of 300 bottles using 25% recycled marine plastic. The plastic is stiped out of all impurities and then used in the process. The main aspect is recovery of good quality plastic which can be used in packaging. The more can be recovered the more can be used to create new bottles. For this reason the Deposit Return scheme and the Operation Clean sweep is extremely important in Coca-Cola UK’s sustainable packaging strategy. Ultimately the recovery procedure is not a quick fix. Rather governments, organizations, businesses and communities have to work unanimously to make this mission a success

Innovations in Food Packaging - Section-3

Sustainable packaging of any product is important because it impacts on the environment and frequently it is studied in the life cycle assessment. The environmental impact is concerned for both the consumers and the retailers. The properties of designing the product packaging makes environmental performance easy. That’s why most of the packaging companies are looking for sustainable packaging that can be environmentally friendly. The concept of the life-cycle assessment of any food or drink products imply how the products can impact on the social, economic environments. The product life cycle starts from the collecting of raw materials and this is a recycling procedure. The coca-cola company collects the raw materials which are renewable and recyclable and uses these materials to their bottles. After that the packaging products are given to the retailers.

The coca-cola mainly use light-weighted packaging techniques. The coca-cola company has utilized technological advancements to reduce the weight of their products and make it reuse, recycle. Almost 50% of their products are made of recycled plastic. The circular recycling strategies make our natural environment good. Here we have discussed the life cycle assessment of the coca-cola bottle. The PET plastic bottles, the aluminum cans, glass bottles- all are recyclable with 100% accuracy. The coca-cola company has a partnership with many NGOs and the local communities for the recycling process. The main target of this company is to collect the bottles and aluminum cans for recycling. The coca-cola company claims that they have arranged advanced systems for collecting the cans and bottles. They also invite many organizations and NGOs for these purposes. The main vision of this company is to make the world without waste. The coca-cola company says that nowadays, most of the organizations look into the carbon footprints rather than wastage of products. The main challenge is to recycle the products all over the world not only in any specific place.

Packaging Life Cycle

Here we have discussed the life cycle assessment of the sustainable packaging of coca-cola companies.

Recycling process:- In this process, the empty bottles are collected and recycled.100% of their bottles and aluminum cans are recyclable.
Collection:- The empty bottles are sent for the facilities of the local waste processing.
Processing technique:- All the plastic materials are baled. After that these are transported to the cleantech.
Sorting process:- The clean and blue plastics are sorted from all the plastic materials. After that, these are shredded for the making of recycling pellets of plastics.
Blending process:- The recycled plastic pellets are blended and these convert to a small tube. Then the small plastic tubes are sent to the factories to make coca-cola bottles.
Manufacturing process:- The factories of coca-cola companies collect the small plastic tubes and then these are blown like the balloons to make the bottles of their brands. All the bottles are iconic. All the factories use electricity from the renewable energy source (Verghese et al., 2012).
Filling process:- After completing the manufacturing of all the bottles, these are filled with the drinks and these are ready for the selling with the help of retailers.
Retailing process:- The bottles appear on shelves and customers buy the drinks from the shop. This process takes 6 weeks time to return to the shelves with the partnership of Cleantech and coca-cola.

Fig. 4 Coca-cola bottles packaging life cycle

(Source: Author's creation)

Again, the empty bottles are sent for recycling. The coca-cola company is targeting to increase the amount of recycled plastics by 50% within the year 2020 (Bista, 2019).

The coca-cola company always makes an effort to protect the environment to give recycled and reuse products with sustainable packaging. The impact of any product packaging on our environment include:

Global warming,
The depletion of Ozone,
The air and water pollution,
The usage of natural resources.

Protect:- The planning for environmental protection is reviewed and updated on a daily basis by the coca-cola company. The source vulnerability assessment measures the upcoming risks of the availability of water and this company always uses the protected water for the safety of human health. But from their manufacturing sites, it is shown the three factories named Milton Keynes, Sidcup, Edmonton which are situated in Great Britain were suffering from a pure water crisis due to population density.

Reduce:- The coca-cola company wants to decrease the amount of water for their drink manufacturing procedure. It obviously will be beneficial for the economic environment. They have already targeted approx 20% reduction of water from their drinks within the year 2025 to their Great Britain factories. To decrease the overall usage of water, this company already invested millions for the upcoming new technologies (Lee, Chan and McNabb, 2017). This technique includes the automatic washers for cleaning the bottles with tiny holes inside it and creative air rinsers which will be able to clean without the water. This company is also planning to utilize the rainwater for the floor cleaning and toilet flushing purposes (Steenis et al., 2018).

Recycling process:- The coca-cola company claims that the clean water that is used for the manufacturing of their bottles return to our environment safely. The coca-cola company claims that they can able to recycle the used water with their water stewardship policies. The usage of the water is approx 0.3 liters per drink for their manufacturing procedure and it implies that Every liter of drink they use 0.3 liters of extra water. Besides, They keep fish in their wastewater tanks for the measurement of the water quantity (The lifecycle of a Coca-Cola bottle | Packaging and recycling | Coca-Cola GB, 2020).

Replenish procedure:- The coca-cola company has arranged the replenishing process of water to return the water in nature and reduce the amount of water in their manufacturing process. This company has achieved success to reach their targets with the partnership with WWF and the United Nations Development Programme. In Great Britain, this replenishment program has got success with the help of Rivers Trust. This technique is helpful for the improvement of both the water quality and the quantity. It is one kind of sustainable solution for the food and drink businesses. This company is able to replenish approx 250 billion liters of water every year in Great Britain (Coca-Colas Water Usage Policy - Sustainability & Responsibility, 2020).

Design Strategies

Three design strategies of coca-cola packaging:-

The pull strategies that include sampling, loyalty programs, product purchase displays, promotions and coupons, premiums, and contests.
The push strategies that include buyback guarantees, corporate advertising, discounts, especially advertising items, advertising materials, dealer meetings and contests (Halder, Ganguly and Singh, 2016).
The three-dimensional packaging strategy is another product design strategy used by coca-cola, which allows users to visualize their products using the augmented reality approach, innovating their packaging as well as marketing designs strategies (Lee, 2019).

Reference List for Innovations in Food Packaging

Allen, F., 2015. Secret Formula: The Inside Story of How Coca-Cola Became the Best-Known Brand in the World. Open Road Media.

beveragedaily.com. 2020. Coca-Cola Turns To Intelligent Packaging To Resolve Drinks’ Packaging Waste. [online] Available at: <https://www.beveragedaily.com/Article/2019/09/09/Coca-Cola-turns-to-Intelligent-Packaging-to-resolve-drinks-packaging-waste> [Accessed 11 May 2020].

Bista, S., 2019. Sustainability in Business (A critique of environmental sustainability practices in Coca-Cola and Unilever).

Coca-cola.co.uk. 2020. The Lifecycle Of A Coca-Cola Bottle | Packaging And Recycling | Coca-Cola GB. [online] Available at: <https://www.coca-cola.co.uk/sustainability/packaging-and-recycling/the-lifecycle-of-a-coca-cola-bottle> [Accessed 11 May 2020].

Coca-cola.co.uk. 2020. World Without Waste | Making The Future More Sustainable | Coca-Cola GB. [online] Available at: <https://www.coca-cola.co.uk/sustainability/global-sustainability-vision/a-world-without-waste> [Accessed 11 May 2020].

Halder, S., Ganguly, D. and Singh, V.P., 2016. Design Process and Its Application on the Improvement (Re-Design) of the Coke Bottle. International Journal of Advanced Packaging Technology, 4(1), pp.185-199.

Jones, P. and Comfort, D., 2018. The Coca Cola Brand and Sustainability. Indonesian Journal of Applied Business and Economic Research, 1(1), pp.34-46.

Kroesen, J.O., What Is the Coca Cola Sustainability Initiative Effect on Production? Basil Al-Halil 4780930.

Lee, B., 2019. How Coca-Cola went three-dimensional to revolutionise its package design workflow to save time, money and foster more creativity. Journal of Digital Media Management, 7(2), pp.106-114.

Lee, C.S., Chan, L. and McNabb, D.E., 2017, July. The role of strategic orientation in business innovation. In 2017 Portland International Conference on Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET) (pp. 1-5). IEEE.

Lifecycleinitiative.org. 2020. [online] Available at: <https://www.lifecycleinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/food_packaging_4.11.13_HQ.pdf> [Accessed 11 May 2020].

Melton, A., Damron, T. and Vernon, J., 2017. A Marketing Strategy from Corporate Social Responsibility: Lessons from Unilever and Coca-Cola Enterprises.

Pumping Solutions. 2020. Coca-Colas Water Usage Policy - Sustainability & Responsibility. [online] Available at: <https://www.pumpingsolutions.co.uk/blog/coca-colas-water-sustainability-responsibility/> [Accessed 11 May 2020].

Reutersevents.com. 2020. Operation Clean Sweep | Ethical Corporation. [online] Available at: <https://www.reutersevents.com/ethical/taxonomy/term/10270> [Accessed 11 May 2020].

Simon, B. (2016). Citizen Coke: The Making of Coca-Cola Capitalism. Agricultural History, 90(1), 158.

Skoda, E. and Skoda, E., 2020. Coca-Cola’S Sustainable Packaging Strategy – One Year On. [online] Packaging Europe. Available at: <https://packagingeurope.com/coca-colas-sustainable-packaging-strategy-one-year-on/> [Accessed 11 May 2020].

Steenis, N.D., van der Lans, I.A., van Herpen, E. and van Trijp, H.C., 2018. Effects of sustainable design strategies on consumer preferences for redesigned packaging. Journal of cleaner production, 205, pp.854-865.

Verghese, K., Lockrey, S., Clune, S. and Sivaraman, D., 2012. Life cycle assessment (LCA) of food and beverage packaging. In Emerging Food Packaging Technologies (pp. 380-408). Woodhead Publishing.