nearly one-half of the cans end up in incinerators or landfills. This is an enormous waste of raw materials.

The resolution asks the board to set a goal to achieve an average 25 percent recycled content in its plastic beverage containers and a container recovery rate of 80 percent -- both by 2005.

Bottle deposit programs are the best method devised so far for collecting large amounts (80 percent) of used bottles and cans. Our CEO, Douglas Daft, has stated that "our long-term success depends on quenching the thirst of consumers each day in an environmentally sound and sustainable way." Yet Coke continues to spend millions of dollars opposing deposit laws and has not set recycling rate goals equivalent to those possible through bottle bills. Goals significantly lower than 80% would be a significant step back from what is attainable.

Shareholders are pleased that the company’s market share of the soft drink business continues to grow. But with this leadership comes responsibility. The company has not acted decisively to address its responsibility for the monumental solid waste crisis created by its products. While it is selling more products and realizing higher profits, recycling rates have plummeted over the last decade (see Fact Sheet).

Coca-Cola is currently helping bankroll efforts to repeal existing container deposit laws and fighting new laws in several states. Yet bottle bills do not appear to dampen growth in product sales. Sales figures for a three-to-five year period after the passage of bottle bills show sales increased at or above the national average in most of the states with deposit laws, according to the Container Recycling Institute. Bottle bills achieve the "shared responsibility" for solid waste Coke says it believes in, by making producers and consumers responsible for their waste.

Activist Pressure

The company needs to act now to prevent damage to its reputation. A coalition of recycling and community-based activists who work through advocacy, grassroots organizing and public education has targeted Coca-Cola on this issue for several years. A "Coke-Take it Back!" Campaign asks consumers to mail back empty plastic Coke bottles to the company for recycling and publishes advertisements in daily papers criticizing Coke for reneging on its recycling promise. A Citizen Alert sent out by Working Assets Long Distance of San Francisco generated more than 40,000 letters, e-mails and calls to the company in March 2000.

Mayors, city councils, county supervisors and other public officials in three states - California, Florida and Minnesota - have passed resolutions and sent letters calling upon Coca-Cola to keep its 1990 pledge to make soda bottles with significant levels of recycled plastic.

A coalition of student activists launched a campaign to get tens of thousands of students nationwide to pledge not to interview for jobs with corporations that are doing harm to the environment. The first corporation to be targeted was Coca-Cola because of its failure to support plastics recycling

The company’s recent troubles with diversity issues have shown that small problems left untended grow into bigger, more expensive ones. Coke has the marketing power, innovation and resources to fix this problem now.

Please vote FOR Item No. 5 for a sustainable recycling.