Coca-Cola’s Saloni Saran Goel discusses how Coca-Cola India is reshaping waste management and sustainability through innovative initiatives and partnerships

The Maha Kumbh, one of the world’s largest religious gatherings, generates vast amounts of waste, posing significant environmental challenges. To address this, initiatives promoting sustainable waste management have gained traction. One such effort is the Maidaan Saaf campaign, which brings together organizations like Go Rewise, Econscious, and Rekart to recycle plastic waste and repurpose it for public utility.

Saloni Saran Goel, Senior Director, ESG Value Creation and Commercialisation at Coca-Cola India, highlighted the company’s involvement in the initiative, emphasizing the need for collaborative action to ensure large-scale events like the Maha Kumbh leave a minimal ecological footprint.

Here Are The Edited Excerpts:

How does the ‘Maidaan Saaf initiative’ align with Coca-Cola’s overall ESG or sustainability objectives? What are some of the other initiatives or things the company has undertaken?
Maidaan Saaf was started in 2023 during the ICC Cricket World Cup. It’s Coca-Cola India’s flagship campaign focused on raising awareness about waste management and recycling at large-scale events to promote a long-term behavioural change. The campaign brings together partners like Go Rewise, Econscious and Rekart, to transform plastic waste into useful resources of public utility.

Through these partnerships, we engage with waste pickers and volunteers to enhance waste segregation and recycling efforts for reducing waste as well as sending it back into the recycling ecosystem. We also use recycling and on-ground waste-management processes and techniques such as Reverse Vending Machines (RVMs), making it easier for consumers to properly dispose of plastic.

How was the experience collaborating with local authorities, communities and volunteers?
This has been an empowering experience for Coca-Cola India and our foundation. Our goal is to strengthen the recycling ecosystem, build strong partnerships, and create capacities. Through this, we aim to not only improve segregation, collection, and recycling but also enhance the overall recycling infrastructure and raise awareness about its possibilities among consumers. We want to make sure that segregation, which is the start of the recycling process, and post-use segregation, becomes intrinsic to consumer behaviour. Our larger aim is to drive behavioural change across communities and various stakeholders.

What type of recycling is being done? Is it physical recycling or chemical recycling?
Through our efforts and with our partners, we have been doing physical recycling. At the Maha Kumbh, we have created and distributed recycled PET jackets for sanitation workers, boatmen and waste management volunteers. We have installed changing rooms for women that are made entirely from recycled multi-layered plastic waste. Previously, at the ICC Cricket World Cup, we had also provided recycled plastic flags.

How did the company ensure that its initiative made a difference to the people and ensure the benefits reached people?
Coca-Cola India in collaboration with its partners, manufactured and distributed of 21,500 recycled PET jackets for waste workers, boatmen and waste volunteers which has had a big impact. Waste workers wearing this jacket got an identity, they were easily identifiable. The life jackets were provided for facilitating the ferrying of visitors across the rivers. Through all these initiatives, we’ve also been able to amplify and communicate a message that we must take forward segregation and recycling.

We’ve also used these products to create awareness around waste segregation and recycling. 1000 changing rooms made out of recycled multi layered plastic waste have been installed along the 12-km stretch of river ghats. These changing rooms feature illustrations by top Indian illustrators, Aravani Art Project, Gaysi Family, and Priyankar Gupta, turning waste segregation and recycling into a fun and visually engaging depiction. Visitors to the event can read them and carry back a message, which encourages them to do their bit on segregation and adopt segregation as a part of their everyday behaviour. With an estimated footfall of over 400 million at MahaKumbh 2025, we aim to amplify the impact of these initiatives.

What will be the use of these life jackets after the event? Are you going to take it back?
So the jackets will remain with the users, which can be the waste workers as well as boatmen because these facilities continue to remain in operation even after Maha Kumbh. For changing rooms, our partner, Econscious is committed to carrying back that material and recycling it further.

What role does innovation play in Coca-Cola’s sustainability strategy and how is it reflected in the Maidaan Saaf campaign?
The campaign aims to promote innovative waste management and recycling practices at large-scale events. Through this whole initiative, we are also fostering, and strengthening an environment and ecosystem whereby recycling of waste becomes easier. In the process, we are working with our partners to develop innovative initiatives and products. We have also installed benches, bins, and mobile charging stations made from recycled plastic at various public places.

Explain Coca-Cola’s shift from refillable packaging to recycled plastic.
Coca-Cola is committed to reducing packaging waste by increasing recycled material in primary packaging and improving collection rates. We aim to collect 70 per cent to 75 per cent of the equivalent number of bottles and cans introduced into the market annually. Over 95 per cent of our packaging is designed to be recyclable, and innovations like lightweight help minimize virgin plastic use. Through collaboration with local and global partners, we’re continuously improving packaging designs, exploring new collection models, and investing in infrastructure for lasting environmental impact.

What step is Coca-Cola taking to prioritise reusable packaging?
We are increasing recycled content in our packaging, enhancing collection rates, and advancing packaging innovations like lightweight to reduce virgin plastics. We are also investing in collection infrastructure, exploring new collection models, and fostering partnerships to strengthen collection systems.

Do you want to add something that what Coca-Cola is doing in other fields also related to the environment, be it water management or waste segregation?
The company aims to reach 100 per cent replenishment of water used in each of the selected locations across the Coca-Cola system. Since 2015, we have consistently exceeded our goal of returning more than 100 per cent of the water used in our finished products back to nature and communities.
In partnership with organisations like S.M. Sehgal Foundation, Social Action for Rural Advancement (SARA), PHD Rural Development Foundation, Haritika, AFPRO, Sewa, Lupin Foundation, and TVS Foundation, we are driving water stewardship initiatives across multiple states, including Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka.