Question

In less than 100 words, provide an example of a successful collaboration that has taken place between two entities and discuss what were the factors that led to this success

Answer 1

Coco-Cola + Heinz : Collaborating to develop more sustainable containers.

In 2009, The Coca-Cola Company created the PlantBottle, a plastic (PET) bottle partially manufactured (30%) with plant-derived materials (like sugar cane and molasses) and byproducts of sugar production in Brazil. These plants were chosen based on environmental criteria to ensure that they do not interfere with local crops. The remaining 70% of each bottle is made with materials derived from fossil fuels, such as petroleum.

The Coca-Cola Company is now striving to manufacture a bottle made of 100% plant-derived materials and plant residues. In fact, they have already developed a prototype, and are now collaborating with Heinz to use their bottling factory. The CocaCola Company has planned to invest $150 million in PlantBottle, to develop the next generation of technology for extracting sugar from plant residues such as plant stems, tree bark and fruit peel. It is also working to make the new container water and carbon neutral. Heinz has made a major investment in the project, although the company has revealed any details. It is hoping to take a step further towards its own goal of reducing emissions, waste and energy consumption by 20% by 2015.

At the time of publication, Heinz had already used 120 million PlantBottlesTM in the USA in 2011. The material in these new containers shares many properties with that of the original plastic (PET): it is amenable to carbonation of the liquid contained; recyclable; weighs the same; has the same life-time; shares the same appearance and chemical composition; and is suitable for water, juice and carbonated beverages. Use of PlantBottle can reduce carbon-footprints by 12% to 19%.

The bottle is 100% recyclable: the resulting byproducts can be re-used to manufacture more bottles, or to make other products, such as furniture or clothing. For example, The Coca-Cola Company and furniture maker Emeco have established a smart collaboration to manufacture the Emeco 111 Navy Chair, a chair made of 111 recycled bottles. Emeco has estimated that it will process more than three million PET bottles.