Coca-Cola launches environmental projects in Georgia
“It is necessary to reduce the negative impact on climate change” – to this end, Coca-Cola Bottlers Georgia is implementing a project that includes two areas: industrial waste management and refrigeration sustainability.
“These are issues that affect our living environment. Waste is generated from the consumed product, which, as a result of improper management, ends up in a landfill, where methane and other substances with potential for global warming are generated. In order to mitigate the existing negative impacts, we are implementing projects, which also include the separate collection of waste, ”said Givi Kalandadze, Coca-Cola Environmental Manager.
The second direction of the project is efficient / sustainable management of refrigeration facilities. The present project can be considered as one of the innovative mitigation measures in the global context of combating climate change, such an initiative is the first in the region and not only in the region.
For a company that has thousands of refrigerators throughout Georgia to sell its products, this is an important and responsible set up in business.
In order to make its own refrigeration services more efficiently managed across the country and have less impact on the environment, the company has developed different approach and a training course for its employees.
“Our employees have been trained on how to determine what kind of defect or malfunction is bothering the refrigerator. What efforts will be needed on the ground to correct this shortcoming. This correction is useful for several reasons: it is no longer necessary to call a contractor who no longer has to drive the extra distance and no extra C2 is emitted into the environment; It also saves on spent fuel and saves time. Overall, the efficiency of each of our employees working in the retail chain is increasing. This is one of the most obvious and worthy examples of how a company can establish commercially effective systems by solving environmental problems,” explains Kalandadze.
Within the framework of the project, theoretical and practical trainings have already been conducted in different cities of Georgia, including Tbilisi and Kobuleti.
“The trainings also cover general topics, such as theoretical training on climate change and even the ozone layer. During the training, the trainees went through the national legislation that regulates the service of refrigeration and air conditioning systems. We do this to help our employees better understand how important the project is not only to the company but also to know that each of them makes a small contribution to global activities to combat climate change. The training includes both theoretical and practical modules – where on-site training takes place with refrigerators used in the network. For example, checking the vacuum leak-proofness of the refrigerator, identifying and repairing lighting defects, correct methods of servicing the refrigerator, positioning it correctly, and more.
The company’s employees are facing another training course, which aims to teach them how to work safely with electrical equipment, gain experience and develop skills.
“Coca-Cola, as a multinational company, is committed to the introduction and use of environmentally sound technologies, including climate change, C2 reduction and efficient waste management. “We can boldly say that CCBG-Coca-Cola Bottlers Georgia is a leader in the fight against waste and climate change in the region, as no one in the South Caucasus, as well as in the former Soviet Union, has implemented such a large-scale project.”
