Management

Investing. Whether it's a new market or a sustainable technology, you have to put money into it from the beginning. Right now, we're investing in the Plant Bottle. We know it's going to cost a little more than normal resin materials in the beginning, but every indication leads us to believe it's going to cost significantly less as we move forward and it scales up. It is also going to be great for the planet also, because we're using less petroleum, a finite resource. Plant Bottle is the first plastic bottle from renewable sources that can be recycled along with other PET plastic bottles in the existing recycling infrastructure, which to be the picture of success to most ecologists. It is meant to be used and re-used for a long time. It is the anti-thesis of the current bottles.

Coke has established some bold environmentally friendly goals, including using "water neutral" production processes -returning as much water to the world as it uses- and reducing its visible carbon footprint for manufacturing operations by 5% in developed countries by 2015 by eventually recovering all its packaging materials so they can be re-used rather than sent to landfills permanently. To achieve these goals, the company must go beyond cost-saving operational improvements and enhance its products while also engaging its stockholders and suppliers to build a culture of environmental innovation that will drive the growth upward. (www.forbes.com)

The innovations and technology for Coke-A-Cola have come a long way since the start of the company. According to Forbes magazine article, the company is going green. Already Coke's investing in a cacophony of ecological innovations. The company has just introduced the Plant Bottle, a partially bio-plastic bottle that is up to 30% plant material and 100% recyclable. Some of its drinks now contain Truvia, a natural, no-calorie sweetener co-developed with Cargill. And through an engagement with Greenpeace, Coca-Cola recently committed to...