Coca-Cola celebrates World Environment Day 2013

As part of Coca-Cola’s global commitment to sustainability of resources, Coca-Cola Sri Lanka celebrated World Environment Day recently. The company planned its celebrations around environmental conservation and protection by organising a PET collection initiative, a debate competition for students and creating awareness on climate protection.

The Company commemorated World Environment Day 2013 by handing over 33 PET collection bins to the Kaduwela Education Zone, to encourage students to collect and recycle plastic waste. Coca-Cola Sri Lanka began the ‘Give Back Life’ project five years ago on World Environment Day in 2008 to support plastic recycling. The project which is being worked out in partnership with the Central Environmental Authority (CEA), the Biyagama Education Division and Kalhari Enterprises, Coca-Cola is taking the mission one step further by inculcating the habit of recycling amongst school children.

The first bin was handed over symbolically to Kaduwela Munidasa Kumarathunge Vidyalaya Principal, W.L.R.K. Wijerathne by Coca-Cola Far East Limited Country Manager – Sri Lanka and Maldives, Abhishek Jugran. Also present at the event were Central Environmental Authority National Post Consumer Plastic Waste Management Project Program Officer Palitha Gamage, Central Environmental Authority Assistant Director Aruni Premathilake, Central Environmental Authority Divisional Environmental Officer P.H.C. Manel, Kalhari Group Managing Director Kaushalya Rajapakse and Coca-Cola Beverages Sri Lanka Ltd. Public Affairs and Communications Manager Neelika Tillekeratne.

Speaking at the event, Abhishek Jugran stated, “Coca-Cola believes in giving back to the communities in which it operates. World Environment Day gives us an opportunity to reaffirm our commitment to sustainability and environment protection, outlined in our Company’s Vision 2020 statement as well as our ‘Me-We-World’ sustainability framework. The PET recycling project ‘Give Back Life’ was designed to manage the growing quantity of PET bottle waste in Sri Lanka. I hope that through our efforts in Kaduwela, Biyagama and other parts of the country, we are able to raise awareness and make some difference to the communities in Sri Lanka.”

Coca-Cola also partnered with the Biyagama Educational Division to organise an Environment Day Debate Competition for students for the second consecutive year. The commencement of the debating competition was graced by Deputy Minister of Disaster Management Duleep Wijesekara, in the presence of Biyagama Divisional Director of Education I. Chandralatha, CCBSL SHEQ Scientific and Regulatory Affairs Manager Ruwan Kumara, Abhishek Jugran and Neelika Tillekeratne. Students from grades 6-11 participated in the competition with the theme of ‘Rakimu Api Parisaraya’ (Let’s Protect the Environment), to win the World Environment Day Trophy.

One of Coca-Cola Beverages Sri Lanka Ltd.’s associates, Praneeth Mendis, who was part of an international expedition to Antarctica earlier this year with Sir Robert Swan, presented a first-hand account of his excursion. Detailing his view of the deteriorating conditions caused due to climate change and the negative effects of global warming, Praneeth discussed ways in which school students could play a part in impacting the environment by recycling waste, turning off electrical equipment, planting more trees and using water conservatively.

Coca-Cola Sri Lanka has designed various sustainability programs under the Coca-Cola Company’s global sustainability framework of ‘Me We World’, with an emphasis on Water and sanitation, Climate Protection and promoting Healthy Active Living. Coca-Cola Sri Lanka has a long standing partnership with UNDP and work with them on water and sanitation programs including the Every Drop Matters’ Project, the Kattankudy revitalisation project and the conservation of the Kelani River basin. Coca-Cola also partnered with Habitat for Humanity, to undertake a revitalisation project in Batticaloa in 2011 after the devastating floods by revitalising wells and schools in the area.

The Company also promotes grassroots level cricket through the ‘Coca-Cola Cricket Pathway’, a series of cricket camps organised with the Aravinda de Silva Cricket Foundation and Sri Lanka Cricket.