EMS Planning at Coca Cola - Case Study Example

EMS Planning At Coca Cola of 10/15/2009 Evaluation Aspects Matrix Department Activity Product Service Environmental aspect Aspect is actual or Potential Media affected Qualify Quantify impacts Scale of impact Duration of impact Production Use of recycled plastic materials in the packaging activity. The use of recycled plastic reduces the company’s dependence on petroleum derivative products. The initiative has actual positive environmental benefits. It will enable the company to accomplish its long goal of using 100% recycled bottles. Petroleum The company invested $60 million to build the world largest recycling packaging plant. The plant will produce 100 million pounds of food graded recycled PET each year. The production is the equivalent of 2 billion 20 ounce coke bottles. 4 4 Production The company is applying renewable energy initiatives at its bottling plants. The energy savings initiative impacts the environment by protecting our natural resources The initiative has actual benefits that are lowering the company’s operation costs while at the same time improving the company processes to diminish air pollution. Atmosphere, petroleum Improved energy efficiency at Coca-Cola by 10% and prevent 500,000 metric tons per year of greenhouse emissions. 3 3 Production Coca Cola’s created a water stewardship program to battle water scarcity in different parts of the world and improve the quality of the water it uses for production purposes Protects the water supply in the community’s the company operates. The initiative could be categorized as potential. Two of the core values of the program are community water initiatives and global awareness with action. The two other core values which are plant performance and watershed protection can be categorized as having actual environmental impact. Water Improve water use efficiency by more than 20% since 2002. 3.5 4 Supply Chain The company implements supply chain strategies that save energy The energy saving practices protect earth’s environment. The initiative has actual environmental implications Atmosphere and other earth’s ecological systems. The purchase of new energy saving refrigerator equipment produces 75% less greenhouse gas emissions. 3.5 3 The matrix below is a continuation of the environmental aspect matrix with an emphasis on the business aspects of each initiative. Regulation, legal exposure Difficulty of the impact Cost of changing impact Effects of change on other activities Concerns of interested parties Effect on public image n/a 2 4 n/a n/a 3 n/a 1 3 n/a n/a 3 n/a 3 1 n/a n/a 4 n/a 1 3 n/a n/a 3 Due to the massive industrial expansion during the 20th century the corporate world became one of the biggest contributors that led to the damage of earth’s natural resources and environment. A business practice that can help companies improve its operations to become more environmentally friendly is environmental management system (EMS) planning. EMS planning allows companies to alter their manufacturing processes in order to reduce its impact on the environment. Some areas EMS plans focus on include reduction of CO2 emissions, lower energy consumption and use of recycled raw materials. CO2 emissions are the biggest contributor to the greenhouse effect and global warming. In 2005 the global CO2 emission levels were 35% higher than prior to the start of the industrial revolution (Epa, 2009). A company that has implemented EMS planning is Coca Cola. Four of the environmental programs that are part of the firm’s EMS plans are sustainable packaging, energy management, water stewardship, and climate protection. Sustainable packaging Coca-Cola soft drink products utilized either aluminum or plastic as the primary raw material for the bottles. The use of plastic in its 20 ounce bottles of coke represent a potential hazard to the environment because plastic is a petroleum derived material. There are enormous amounts of wasted plastic filling up landfills worldwide. Coca Cola decided to take a stand against the use of newly generated plastic by expanding the firm’s capabilities to produce recycled plastic bottles. The company in alliance with United Resource Recovery Corporation built the world largest recycling bottling plan by investing over $60 million. The use of recycled plastic helps the company reduce its dependence on petroleum derived materials. It will enable the company to come closer to achieving its long term goal of using 100% recycled plastic in its packaging. The plant will produce 100 million pounds of food graded recycled PET each year (Thecoca-colacompany, 2009). I rated the sustainability packaging initiate as a 4.0 on a 1-4 rating scale. By eliminating the necessity to use newly created plastic the firm is helping preserve the world’s crude oil reserves. Energy Management Energy consumption is a major contributor to pollution because the majority of the world’s energy is created by using petroleum as the energy source. In order to lower the energy consumption at the company’s bottling plants the firm has began the usage of renewable energy sources. The environmental impact of the program are protecting the crude oil reserves and reducing the CO2 emission produced by the manufacturing activity at Coca Cola. The initiative has actual benefits that are lowering the company’s operation costs while at the same time improving the company’s processes to diminish air pollution. The energy management program had very positive results. It improved energy efficiency at Coca-Cola by 10% and prevented 500,000 metric tons per year of greenhouse emissions (Thecoca-colacompany, 2009). I rated the program as 3.0 on a 1-4 rating scale because despite the benefits of the program the company could do more to save energy by investing more money in alternative energy technologies such as solar power and windmills. Water Stewardship In many parts of the world such as the continent of Africa there is scarcity of water and problems with the quality of this important natural resource. The water stewardship program at Coca-Cola has both actual and potential environmental impact. The program has four core values which are: plant performance, watershed protection, community water initiatives, and global awareness and action. The program helped the company become 20% more efficient in its use of the valuable natural resource (Thecoca-colacompany, 2009). A process that helped the company minimize its use of water was recycling water for manufacturing processes. By minimizing the waste of water Coca-Cola is ensuring its operation do not place too much strain on the supply of water in regions of the world were each drop of water counts. I rated the program 3.5 of a 4.0 scale. The fact that the water stewardship program extended itself beyond the internal operations of the company gives it more value and greater scope. Climate Protection The Coca Cola Company has implemented various initiatives to protect our environment and climate. The firm’s supply chain is one of the activities in the company that creates the greatest amounts of pollution. The enterprise implemented various energy savings solutions throughout its supply chain. The environmental objective is to minimize the consumption of the crude oil, diminish CO2 levels, and reduce other polluting agents the company processes generate. These initiatives have actual environmental implications. Four key areas of the firm’s climate protection strategies are refrigeration equipment, office and bottling plants, fleet and transportation, and global awareness and action. The program protects the atmosphere and other earth’s ecological systems. The purchase of new energy saving refrigerator equipment produces 75% less greenhouse gas emissions (Thecoca-colacompany, 2009). The company utilizes hybrid and electric vehicles as part of its ground transportation fleet. I rated the program 3.5 of a 4.0 rating scale because the program was able to go beyond the internal manufacturing operations of the company. Conclusion The Coca Cola Company was able to effectively implement EMS planning in order to develop a series of programs to improve the firm’s processes in order to minimize its impact on the environment. Four initiatives the EMS plan achieved were sustainable packaging, energy management, water stewardship, and climate protection. The water stewardship program changed the company practices to lower the use of water while at the same time providing assistance to poor communities to improve their supply of water. EMS planning is a strategic tool that improves the operation of corporation to comply with the expectations of the community. References Epa.gov (2009). Carbon Dioxide. Retrieved October 15, 2009 from http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/co2.html Thecoca-colacompany.com (2009). Protecting the Environment. Retrieved October 15, 2009 from http://www.thecoca-colacompany.com/citizenship/environment.html Read More