JULY 1999 ShopForChange ACTION
[http://www.shopforchange.com/activism.cfm]
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E-mail the letter below Douglas Ivester, CEO &
Chairman of Coke, and demand that Coke live up
to its promise to use soft drink bottles made
from recycled plastic. Or personalize the
message to reflect your own concerns.
Sample message text.
Please edit or correct.
Dear Mr. Ivester,
I am writing to urge you to make the Coca-Cola
Company keep its promise to use soft drink
bottles made from recycled plastic.
In 1990, you said that Coca-Cola would start
using plastic soft drink bottles in the United
States made with 25% recycled material. Now,
nine years later, Coke sells more than 20
million plastic soda bottles every day in the
U.S. -- and none of them contain an ounce of
recycled plastic. As quickly as they are
tossed into landfill, the plastics industry
churns out more bottles made from non-
renewable resources and creates more toxic
pollutants in the process.
According to an industry trade publication, it
would cost Coke only an extra one tenth of one
cent per container to make 20 ounce PET
bottles with 25% recycled material. Coca-Cola
already uses recycled content and refillable
plastic bottles in several other countries.
Why not here?
Coca-Cola is a leader in the soft drink
industry. If you choose to act in an
environmentally responsible manner, other
companies will follow. Please tell me when
you intend to use recycled plastic in your
soda bottles sold in the United States.
Your message will be sent to:
M. Douglas Ivester
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Coca-Cola
One Coca-Cola Plaza
Atlanta, GA 30313
800/571-2653
divester@na.ko.com
Background Information
Coca-Cola is the soft drink industry leader,
boasting a 44% market share in 1997. Coke is
also a leading industrial polluter: every
year, 8 billion plastic Coke bottles,
containing 600 million pounds of 100% virgin
plastic, are discarded, most ending up as
street litter or as landfill.
In December 1990, Coke publicly pledged to
begin using plastic bottles in the United
States made with 25% recycled plastic. At that
time, they also stated that using recycled
materials would not affect the cost of their
products. Now, nine years later, Coke sells
more than 20 million sodas every day in the
U.S. - and none of them contain an ounce of
recycled plastic. In fact, over the past 10
years, Coke has moved away from their
commitment to using recyclable materials
altogether and has instead become a leader in
their use of #1 polyethylene terephthalate
(PET) plastic soda bottles.
Cost-effective technology exists to make
plastic soda bottles with recycled bottles. In
fact, according to an industry trade
publication, it would only cost Coke 1/10 of
one cent per bottle to make plastic bottles
with 25% recycled material. Yet, citing the
high cost of using recycled materials, Coca-
Cola abandoned their plans to use recycled-
content bottles in the US. Ironically, Coke
already uses recycled content bottles in
Australia, New Zealand and several European
countries.
With plastic waste increasing ten times faster
than the recycling of plastic bottles, Coke
needs to take responsibility for the waste
it's producing.
Contact information and links for Advocacy
Groups working on this issue:
GrassRoots Recycling Network (GRRN)
P.O. Box 49283
Athens, GA 30604-9283
706-613-7121
http://www.grrn.org/
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Bill Sheehan
Network Coordinator
GrassRoots Recycling Network
P.O. Box 49283
Athens GA 30604-9283
Tel: 706-613-7121
Fax: 706-613-7123
zerowaste@grrn.org
http://www.grrn.org
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