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| Source: | LOHAS Weekly Newsletter |
| Published: | Friday, December 30, 2005 |
Today, soft drinks are available at any time and any place in Japan.
But their easy availability raises concerns about the growing
environmental impacts of vending machines, cans and plastic bottles.
In this article, we will feature the challenge of creating a
sustainable society, from the perspective of the Coca-Cola System in
Japan, which consists of Coca-Cola (Japan) and its bottlers. The
article is based on an interview with one of the bottlers, Mikuni
Coca-Cola Bottling Co., which is in charge of sales in Saitama, Gunma
and Niigata prefectures.
Growing Interest in Environmental Issues
"Hello, everyone. We, the Coca-Cola System, are committed to enriching
human relationships." Determined to revitalize itself, the company
posted this message in large advertisements in national newspapers on
August 1, 2005, which evoked many responses from the public. The
message continues: "We live with people-to-people interaction. Through
mutual understanding and cooperation, we build families and society…
(omitted) Coca-Cola Japan hopes to help people not only to quench
their thirst but also to enrich their mutual relationships. Please
tell us what you think." In response to the message, more than 10,000
comments were received, of which about 40 percent were related to
environmental issues. Coca-Cola Japan posts some of these feedbacks on
its website at http://www.cocacola.co.jp/uruosu (in Japanese).
Challenge 1: Environmental Impacts and the New Value of Vending Machines
There were many opinions about vending machines. Here is one of them:
"There must be a huge number of vending machines in Japan. If
energy-saving equipment, such as solar-power equipment, is installed
in each vending machine, or the temperature of their cooling systems
is set one degree higher than usual or can be adjusted depending on
surrounding conditions, the total amount of conserved energy would be
enormous. What do you think about this?"
Toshio Kaneko, Manager of the Environmental Affairs Division of Mikuni
Coca-Cola Bottling, says, "The environmental burdens caused by vending
machines is certainly one of our most important issues to address."
However, contrary to what people might expect, the number of vending
machines in Japan has actually decreased by more than 15 percent over
the past three years. Kaneko says, "This is a result of the industry
optimizing number of vending machines in the market. Although the
number used to be increasing in the midst of fierce competition
between beverage manufacturers, they now seek more efficient placement
of vending machines, which also benefits the environment."
Mikuni Coca-Cola Bottling has about 90,000 vending machines. In 1995,
the company started to install what it calls Eco-Venders,
environmentally friendly vending machines co-developed by a power
company, a vending machine manufacturer, and the Coca-Cola System.
The inside temperature of Eco-Vender is set a few degrees lower than
usual in the summer morning, so that its cooling system can be turned
off while keeping the inside temperature cool in the afternoon, when
electricity demand peaks. The company has introduced other
energy-conservation measures as well, such as a new insulation
material and a cooling system that chills the beverages just before
they are sold. Such efforts have led to the reduction in power
consumption per vending machine by more than 50 percent in the past 15
years.
As a result of these measures, the total power consumption of all the
company's vending machines in 2005 is expected to decrease by about 30
percent compared to 2000. In addition, the company has started
replacing all of its vending machines with ozone-friendly CFC-free
models, and plans to complete the process by 2020.
What is the next issue to be addressed? "We would like to propose a
new value of vending machines in society," says Kaneko. For sure, a
network of vending machines offers a certain type of infrastructure,
since vending machines are located wherever people walk by. Mikuni
Coca-Cola Bottling has put stickers on vending machines showing the
local address, so people can verify their location when they report a
crime or incident to the police, for example. It also has equipped
vending machines in public places with message boards that can display
critical information in case of an emergency. In ways such as these,
the company has started new approaches, ahead of other companies, to
reduce environmental impacts and provide additional value for people
and local communities.
Challenge 2: Seeking the Perfect Container
Containers are another issue that arose in consumer comments. "Which
is more ecological, plastic or glass bottles?" "Please stop using
plastic bottles and return to the glass bottle recycling system you
used to have. I think chilled drinks in glass bottles tasted better. "
Mikuni Coca-Cola Bottling supplies the drinks (and their
thirst-quenching "service") to customers in various types of container
materials, depending on the kind of beverages they contain, such as
aluminum cans, steel cans, glass bottles, paper cups and plastic
bottles. What is the ideal container? "Drinking with your own cup is
the most ecological way, but practically-speaking, in most cases we
have to provide our products in other containers. And we can't solve
the problem by just changing containers," says Kaneko.
For example, returnable bottles are superior to other containers in
terms of recycling. But returnables still involve environmental
impacts through the production, washing, and transportation of bottles.
And the further the market is from the factory, the greater the amount
of energy needed for transportation.
It is necessary to grasp the whole lifecycle of containers, from the
viewpoint of reducing environmental impacts. For example, one approach
being considered is the use of plastic "preformed" containers, which
are one seventh the size of conventional containers, until they are
expanded in the factory just before being filled with the beverage.
They can reduce the amount of energy that would otherwise be needed to
transport "a large amount of air" in new containers.
The company is working on the integrated management of container
recycling, with the aim of total optimization. The selection and
management of recycling companies, which used to be conducted
separately at each location, needs to be conducted collectively.
Experience gained in balancing and minimizing environmental burdens
and costs can be applied to other cases. Thus the company is seeking
to optimize overall efficiency, not just in containers or other
aspects, but in the total flow.
Challenge 3: Reducing Environmental Impacts in Society Overall
Tackling these two challenges has resulted in enabling Mikuni
Coca-Cola Bottling to carry out its unique environmental activities,
that is, advising customers how to be more environmentally friendly.
While other beverage companies struggle to encourage their customers
to install more vending machines, Mikuni Coca-Cola Bottling advises
its customers to reduce the number of the machines by two-thirds, and
also suggests effective ways of recycling beverage bottles. The
company thinks that offering customers better service can reduce
environmental impacts. Also, for customers, more efficient operations
will lead to cost reduction. As part of its annual environmental
targets, the company sets targets on how many "environmental
suggestions" each department will offer to customers and then carries
them out.
"Customers first need to invest when they switch to new vending
machines, but they are satisfied in the long run," says Kaneko.
"Recently we have received more requests from our sales division to
provide environmental information or to accompany their people on
sales calls." The company's efforts help customers alleviate
environmental impacts and contribute to higher profits for both
customers and the company itself. The company sees these as progress
toward coexistence between the environment and the economy.
In modern societies, have we sacrificed something in return for the
convenience of having beverages at any place and any time? For
instance, doesn't the increase in the number of vending machines
result in higher energy use and carbon dioxide emissions? In fact, do
we really need cans and plastic bottles for beverages? One company
working alone cannot find the all answers, and there are no
predetermined answers.
The company's message mentioned at the head of this article continues
like this: "Our activities should be pursued through human-to-human
interactive communication rather than our unilateral actions. We also
hope each activity will help enrich human relations and bear fruits.
These are what help shape a more affluent society." Mikuni Coca-Cola
Bottling believes people-to-people communication creates trust, and it
tries to promote environmental activities by establishing that trust.
It has high expectations for its efforts to pursue an ideal business
role in society.