Coke has 52 water intensive bottling plants in India, creating loads of new jobs
Raw material for making Coke- water- which is free to access in India so they make profit
On average, a bottling plant uses 0.5million litres of water a day.
This water is extracted from aquifiers in drought prone areas and in parts of Rajasthan the water table has fallen over 20 metres.
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specific area- Rajasthan in India continued
Farmers are without water for their crops and so have to abandon their land- which leads to poverty.
Bottling plants pass on bio-solid waste to use as fertiliser, however when this waste was tested in contained high levels of calcium and lead which is toxic
Social and political conflicts have arisen over Coca Cola in India. In 2004, one plant was forced to shut down after violent demonstrations.
Coca Cola denies that there is anything wrong- theres a quote on their website that says "Local communities welcomed us"
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International Context
Coca Cola headquaters in an MEDC- Atlanta in USA
Research and development for syrup concentrates happen here
Bottling, canning and carbonation is done in LEDC'S where labour and water is cheaper
In most cases, Coca Cola dont actually own the bottling plants, they just subcontract them from smaller companies around the world
Therefore if any conflict (environmental, economical, social or political) arises, they cant pull out without loss of investment in buildings etc
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International Context continued
Location of the plants is controlled by access to fresh underground water supplies
Coca Cola also takes advantage of tax environmental laws- which means that they can dispose of their waste cheaply
It employs PR companies to deflect attention from negative media coverage
Their annual marketing budget is $2 million
In May 2003, they were fined $300,000 for polluting a major river in Panama.
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