Coca-Cola Bags Award For Environmental Sustainability Investment
Several honors were given to Coca-Cola at the Environmental Sustainability Conference, Expo, and Awards (ECOSEA), which was put on by ImpactReports Africa and Brand Communicator. These awards recognize the company’s đeication to protecting the environment and improving its packaging. This confirms that Coca-Cola Nigeria has long-term commitments to environmental sustainability in addition to one-time philanthropic actions. The first ECOSEA conference was held this year, where participants from the public and private sectors debated topics such “Smarter Waste Management for Safer Cities,” “The Role of Communication in Environmental Sustainability,” and “Net Zero Emissions: The Journey to 2060.”
Joshua Ajayi, the convener of ECOSEA, defined it as an annual forum that promotes ecologically sustainable acts in Africa in his welcome speech. Coca-Cola Nigeria is forging ahead and altering communities as corporate sustainability practices advance from corporate charity into a crucial component of business models and operations. Coca-Cola won both categories, "Award for the Most Outstanding Beverage Company in Environmental Sustainability" and "Award for the Eco-Friendly Bottled Water Brand of the Year," earning two recognitions. The title of "Environmental Sustainability Professional of the Year" was also won by Nwamaka Onyemelukwe, director of public affairs, communications, and sustainability at Coca-Cola Nigeria.
During a panel discussion with the title "Smart Waste Management for Safer Cities," Onyemelukwe stated that Coca-World Cola's Without Waste initiative is built upon three fundamental tenets: collecting and recycling one bottle or can for every one sold by 2030 (Collect), uniting people to support a healer by making 100% of its packaging globally recyclable by 2025—and using at least 50% recycled material in its packaging by 2030 (Design), and bringing people together to support a healthy, debris-free environment (Partner). She also mentioned that Coca-Cola announced an industry-leading reusable packaging goal in February 2022, stating that by 2030, the company hopes to sell at least 25% of the total volume of its beverages in refillable/returnable glass or plastic bottles or in fountain dispensers with reusable packaging.
The change in Sprite packaging is another example of packaging innovation by Coca-Cola. In order to facilitate simpler conversion into new bottles by increasing the availability of high-value recycled plastic in the after-use market, Sprite, one of its top worldwide effervescent soft drink brands, switched from its famous green bottles to clear PET, Onyemelukwe continue. Indeed, Coca-Cola Nigeria’s sustainability initiatives deserve these distinctions as it works to achieve “A Safer Environment” through investments in recycling solutions and creative packaging, a decrease in greenhouse gas emissions, and an increase in water security.
Nigeria is ranked 168 out of 180 countries in the Environment Performance Index (EPI) 2022. The country had a score of 28.32 out of 100 for “environment and sustainability,” placing it 41st out of 46 sub-Saharan nations. This was published in a 2022 report by researchers from Columbia University’s Center for International Earth Science Information Network and Yale Center for Environmental Law & Policy.
This shows how difficult it is for the most populous nation in Africa to protect its citizens from environmental health hazards such poor air quality, heavy metal exposure, unhygienic environments, contaminated drinking water, and waste management. In order to deal with plastic waste and improve Nigeria's environmental sustainability performance, Coca-Cola Nigeria is collaborating with social entrepreneurs and groups that place an emphasis on the circular economy.
TLPPACKAGING FOR SHOPPING BAGS
