Coca Cola

Coca Cola in India

Environmental Impact

Plachimada, Kerala and Kaladera on the outskirts of Jaipur are two communities that have fell economically, socially, politically and most arguably environmentally, victim to the power of Coca Cola. The clearly visible physical effect on the environment Coca Cola has cast over such communities is devastating; once fertile, farming communities with lush, moist land now resembles a dry, sandy desert. This is the most obvious environmental impact Coca Cola has had on many Indian communities and is a direct result of a decrease in groundwater resources which many claim Coca Cola exploits [1]. A second environmental impact Coca Cola has had on its host communities, is that the little water the locals do manage to salvage is found to be contaminated by the waste Coca Cola pour out of their bottling plants continuously [2]. Thirdly, Coca Cola have been found to deposit contaminated waste onto land surrounding the plant and also issue it to local farmers as fertilisers [3]. All of these issues will be discussed with reference to Coca Colas environmental policies and the impact it has had on the two communities of Plachimada and Kaladera.

Coca Cola implement a single environmental policy known as ‘eKo’. This is implemented in all of their plants throughout the world including those found in India [4]. In theory, it allows them to make environmentally friendly business decisions, but in practice this does not seem to be the case. As stated on their website, Coca Cola’s prime environmental considerations followed in business decisions are;

• Environmental due diligence before acquiring land • Environmental impact assessment before commencing operations • Ground water and environmental surveys before selecting sites • Diligent compliance with all regulatory environmental requirements • Ban on purchase of refrigeration equipment containing CFCs • Installation of Effluent treatment plant at each manufacturing locations • Separate collection and treatment domestic and industrial effluent as per company or local standard • Separate discharge of industrial, domestic and storm water to prevent storm water pollution [5]

If Coca Cola did take all of these factors into consideration when making business decisions e.g. like where to set up a bottling plant, it would appear the environment of such communities would not be put at risk and indeed if there was a chance it would, they would either not locate there or propose ways of eliminating the potential problems. However, it appears to be that in a considerable number of communities where Cola have bottling plants none of these considerations have been accounted for. This is indeed the situation in Plachimada and Kaladera.

Social Impact

Coca Cola’s practices have had serious social impacts particularly on the community who live in Plachimida in the Kerala region of India. These include health problems and considerable damage to the livelihoods of this community. Coca Cola claim that they not only function in ways that will be beneficial to their company but act in ways that will also be beneficial to the health and livelihoods of local people as according to Coca Cola they seek to “improve the quality of life, and foster good will in communities".[6] However evidence suggests that Coca Cola’s are not fulfilling this promise as Coca Cola’s practices in Kerala seem to have had devastating social impacts on the lives of the communities located near to Coca Cola’s factories.

The main complaint made against Coca Cola is that they are depleting much needed ground water in Kerala to use in their factories. This has meant that many people are unable to draw enough water from their wells which has had obvious social impacts particularly for women in Kerala who are forced to travel on foot to collect water. They must then carry back heavy jugs of water as according to A Cockburn “women in Plachimada have to walk a 4-kilometer round trip to get drinkable water, toting the big vessels on hip or head� [7] with this water not lasting long as it must be used for drinking, cooking and washing. The journey can therefore often take all day as available water can be so far away therefore it can leave women in Kerala feeling exhausted especially as they are not able to drink a sufficient amount of water during the journey as it is needed for the whole family.

It is not only the lack of water that is having social impacts on the effected communities as it is also the quality of the water that is effecting people’s lives. The poor quality of water has had consequences on people’s health therefore they are forced to travel to get clean water. It has been claimed by the communities in Kerala that the water that remains in their wells has a horrible taste and has a hard consistency which means that no one can drink it or even use it to cook with. It has been that reported that people have experienced illnesses due to drinking the water “as while the water used to be fine to drink, now what is left at the bottom of the well gives them sever stomach pains and headaches� [8] which shows that Coca Cola’s practices may have polluted the water which has led to these health problems.

It is not only polluted water that has effected people’s health as Coca Cola gave many farmers sludge claiming that it would be good for their land. However all this sludge did was cause illness and infections as according to A Cockburn “aside from stinking so badly it made old folk and children sick, people coming in contact with it got rashes and kindred infections and the crops which it was supposed to nourish died.� [9]. Whereas as Coca Cola claimed this sludge was safe and would be a useful fertiliser lab tests on the sludge found it had high levels of cadmium which is particularly harmful to pregnant women.

The water appears to be of such a poor quality in certain parts of Kerala that people have been unable to use it for cooking as when rice is cooked it becomes hard and therefore difficult to eat. In the past families where able to save food by cooking rice in the morning and leaving some for the rest of the day. However this is no longer possible as using this water to cook the rice has made it inedible after a few hours. This has meant that families have to spend more money on food then they used to as they can no longer cook rice that will last all day and many families are unable to do afford this. This could have serious consequences for people’s health as they may suffer malnutrition if they cannot afford to buy more food.

People have also been unable to wash with the water as it has been reported that it results in health problems. According to A Cockburn “ to wash in it was to get skin rashes, a burning feel on the skin. It left their hair greasy and sticky� [10] which shows how the polluted water is having serious consequences for people’s health. Furthermore in a developing country such as India where diseases spread rapidly it is vital that communities have clean water to wash in so this can be avoided.

Coca Colas practices have also effected the livelihoods of many farmers in Kerala as they do not have enough water to irrigate their land properly. Farmers has always been able cope with the fact that the area had low rainfall but since Coca Cola began to take the already limited water supply “crops have failed and jobbing agricultural labourers have been forced further a field to look for employment� [11]. The lack of water has therefore led to farmers being unable to sell their produce or use it to feed their own families. This could lead to farmers being put out of business as they will have no source of income. This is also a long term problem as it may take some time before crops begin to grow again during this time farmers will be forced to look for a source of income elsewhere

1.http://www2.cocacola.com/ourcompany/pdf/2004_citizenship_report.pdf

2.http://www.counterpunch.org/cockburn04162005.html

3.http://www.christian-aid.org.uk/indepth/0401csr/csr_casestudy3india.pdf

4.http://www.counterpunch.org/cockburn04162005.html

5.http://www.counterpunch.org/cockburn04162005.html

6.http://www.christian-aid.org.uk/indepth/0401csr/csr_casestudy3india.pdf

Organisations of which Coca Cola is a member or funds

American Chamber of Commerce EU Committee	[12]
World Business Council for Sustainable Development	[13]
Business in the Community	[14]
The Conference Board	[15] [16]
Council of Marketing Executives II (The Conference Board)	[17]
Council of Financial Executives (The Conference Board)
Performance Improvement Council (The Conference Board)
Council on Work Force Diversity II (The Conference Board)
Council of Financial Executives (The Conference Board)
Council for Business Development and Integration Executives (The Conference Board)
European Policy Centre	[18]
International Chamber of Commerce	[19]
International Life Sciences Institute	[20]
Business for Social Responsibility	[http://www.uscib.org/index.asp?documentID=1846
United States Council for International Business
CSR Europe	[21]
Corporate Council on Africa	[22]
CPR Institute for Dispute Resolution	[http://www.pac.org/join/listmem.htm
Public Affairs Council
International Business Leaders Forum	[23]
The Cato Institute	[24]
Keep America Beautiful	[25]
American Council on Science and Health
Center for Consumer Freedom