In the last issue of Consumer News we promised to publish some information about Coca-Cola's commitment to the environment. They state:
We have intentionally concentrated our activities on those environmental areas which most affect our industry and which we are, therefore, able to influence to some extent. We are particularly involved in promoting collecting and recycling systems for packaging and in working towards a litter-free environment.
The Coca-Cola Company was a leading founder member of the European Recovery and Recycling Association, which focuses on making recycling convenient for the consumer through systems for the collection of a range of recyclable items directly from, or close to, households. We were also the first major sponsor of the "Save a Can" scheme for collecting all cans, aluminium or steel, irrespective of their original use.
Coca-Cola was one of the 28 major companies invited by the Secretary of State for the Environment to form the Producer Responsibility Group in 1993 and thus took an active part in shaping this country’s policies for meeting the recycling targets of both the UK Government and the European Union.
Litter is a behavioural or educational problem; people cause litter and only people can stop causing it. For many years, therefore, we have supported the Tidy Britain Group, the Government’s recognised agency for promoting litter abatement, and in 1992 we were honoured to receive the group’s prestigious Queen Mother’s Birthday Award Trophy in recognition of two decades of our support. We led our industry in the introduction of litter free stay-on ring pulls - now widely adopted - have supported National Spring Clean since its inception and sponsor the Group’s People and Places programme throughout the country.
We were also founder members of the Environment 21 Club’s Going for Green, Britain’s biggest ever campaign to increase and encourage public awareness of environmental issues. To back up this environmental activity we have made available a range of publications and other educational aids, either on our own or in co-sponsorship with other organisations. These include:
Our World, Our Responsibility - an educational guide for schools, published by the RSPB under the auspices of the Council for Environmental Education;
Wise up to Waste and The Dustbin Pack - recycling for secondary and primary schools respectively, produced in co-operation with Waste Watch;
Finding out about Packaging and Finding out about Waste Management - two titles from the popular Hobsons’ series covering the history, use and proper disposal of packaging, and all about waste management:
Products and Packages - under the INCPEN Packaging Education Programme and aimed at Key Stage 3 and 4 of the Technical Curriculum.
The support for a litter free environment which Coca-Cola espouses makes me wonder about glass bottles versus tin cans and cartons for drinks. Just recently my car has been off the road for major surgery and even suffered a relapse, so I have been doing a lot more cycling than usual.
I cannot help noticing, because I spend a lot of time avoiding them, the large amounts of broken glass that litter the roads and streets round where I live. Where does it all come from? There are some cans and cartons about, but not many and they do not cause punctures to a bicycle tyre. I never see or hear anyone throwing a bottle away, let alone smashing one, yet there are the nasty sharp bits, all over the road.
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