(Note: This is a Skit prepared exclusively for awareness and training purposes. The contents and characters are fictitious and have no similarity with any real cases or persons. Any similarity is unintentional and purely coincidental).
The Capital Milk Dairy (CMD) is the largest producer and supplier of milk and milk products in the NCR. Recently, it has come under intense criticism by the National Environment Council, a large number of NGOs and the Media because 80% of its products are sold in plastic packs. Disturbed by this criticism and negative media reports, the Chairman Deepak Irani has asked the CEO V.T. Joseph to present a report with solutions in the forthcoming Board Meeting which is scheduled next week.
It’s Monday morning. Joseph has called a meeting of his first line Department Heads which include the Finance Controller Udey Bansal, Marketing Head Romit Mondal, Production and Logistics Head Suresh Rao, Strategy and Planning Head Puneet Singh, Communications Head Kavita Kamath and the Chief EHS Officer Salma Zaidi.
Joseph (sounding concerned): The negative media reports and public criticism are severely hurting our public image. Even though our production and sales continue to grow, we cannot turn a blind eye to the problem that we are using too much of plastic packaging. We need to find a satisfactory and sustainable solution to this problem.
Romit (sounding casual and dismissive): Sir, these environmentalists are a constant source of nuisance. Left to them, they will bring the entire industry to a standstill and take us back 200 years. It’s better to simply ignore these guys and get on with our business. After all, we are doing such great public service by supplying high quality milk products at economical prices. Sir, we need to focus only on profitable growth and become Asia’s largest milk company.
Joseph (pensively): I agree that profitable growth is important for us but we cannot ignore the criticism which is increasing by the day. Our public image is going for a toss and we cannot accept this. We need solutions. Salma, as EHS Head, what is your take?
Salma (serious and firm): Even though we may not like it, the problem is real and we must take it head on. In pursuit of profitable growth, we cannot overlook the fact that we are harming not just the environment but also health and safety of the public. I had raised this issue earlier but unfortunately nobody had taken me seriously.
Joseph (somewhat annoyed but calm): What exactly do you want to say, Salma?
Salma (emotional and passionate): Sir, the truth is that excessive use of plastics is causing untold harm. The plastic polypacks in which we package our milk and other products are thrown by the public all over the place. They clog the drains, flood the roads, cause waterlogging and pose a major health hazard. The dirty and filthy standing water is a breeding ground for mosquitoes and all those dreaded waterborne diseases. Not just that. You would have read recently that a little girl got electrocuted while walking through water next to a lamp post. Water had got trapped around the lamp post because the drains were choked with plastic waste.
You are all very knowledgeable but nevertheless it is worth repeating that plastics are a major threat to the very survival of our planet. Recycling and reuse is just not working out. Often, animal and fish consume plastic wastes and then die a slow and miserable death. When burnt along with other waste material, plastics release toxic gases into the atmosphere and this is the air we breathe. No wonder that so many people are suffering today from numerous breathing and lung problems. It is also well known that the use of plastics in food packaging damages our nervous system and even causes cancer. The list of hazards is endless and I could go on and on.
Sir, we cannot escape the truth. The time has come to eliminate plastics to the maximum possible extent even if it means a small dent in our profits.
Joseph (curiously): But how? 80% of our products are packed in plastic.
Romit (turning to Salma and somewhat angry): And we cannot close our shop because of your exaggerated concerns.
Salma (continuing defiantly): Certainly not, Sir. But there are ways and solutions. I have thought of these and would like to propose some solutions. They involve a paradigm shift but I’m convinced that they are workable.
Joseph (encouragingly): Go on, Salma. We are all ears.
Salma (enthusiastically): Sir, we should replace all the plastic polypacks with cardboard tetra packs. I feel that we can standardize on 3 sizes: 200, 500 and 1000 ml. I know that this will increase our packaging costs but the additional burden is nothing compared to the cost of damage to environment, health and safety.
Simultaneously, we should completely do away with selling normal sterilized milk which needs boiling before consumption. We should switch over totally to high temperature sterilized milk or UHT milk. UHT milk already forms a small part of our product spectrum but the time has come to make it our mainstream standard offering. Imagine the national energy savings! Millions of households will no longer need to burn gas and other fuels to boil milk. In our factories, we need just a fraction of the saved energy to produce UHT milk. Moreover, our homes will not need utensils to boil milk and then clean them. This will result in additional savings in terms of detergents, water, time and effort.
I am convinced that we can change and that my suggestions can be implemented. As head of production, what is your view on this, Suresh?
Suresh (impressed and nodding his head in appreciation): This is most certainly doable, Salma. We already have production lines for UHT. We need to increase the capacity by adding additional streams and converting the existing ones. This is a one-time capital investment and we should do it now. As it is, most of our equipment is in urgent need of modernization. My estimate is that it’ll take maximum 3 months to reboot our entire product spectrum as per the suggestions of Salma.
And yes, regarding the other recommendation of replacing plastic polypacks with cardboard tetra packs. This should be done and can be accomplished quite easily. We are already packaging some of our products in tetra packs and we could extend it to the entire range. The supplier base is already available. It just needs to be expanded.
Kavita (inquisitively): Just a suggestion! Why don’t we use glass bottles instead of tetra packs? Glass bottles can be reused, recycled and are eco-friendly.
Salma (smiling in appreciation): Good point, Kavita. Yes, glass is an excellent alternative. But the problem with glass bottles is that they are heavy, have to be handled carefully, require increased storage space and are more expensive compared to tetra packs. In one van, you can transport almost 75% more milk in tetra packs than in glass bottles. This escalates the costs even further. Moreover, glass breakage is a safety issue.
Kavita (nodding gently): True, I see your point. We obviously can’t increase the costs beyond a certain limit and make our products economically unviable.
Joseph (pleased and relieved): This is great. Then let’s do it. I’ll put up Salma’s recommendations to the Board next week and try to obtain its approval. I’m very hopeful that the Chairman and Directors will agree. Of course, we need to do a lot of homework before that, particularly on the financial aspects, where Udey can guide us. Maybe, we can pass on a part of our additional cost burden to the public.
I have just one doubt. What about the disposal of these tetra packs? They are lined with Aluminium foil on the inside? Won’t they also cause a disposal problem, although not as severe as plastics?
Puneet (intervening excitedly): Sir, I have a solution for that. We should charge a notional deposit while selling our tetra packs. This deposit amount should be paid back to whoever brings the empty packs back to any of our outlets. If we do this, I can assure you that not a single pack will remain discarded on the roadside or lie strewn in public places. At each of our outlets, we can keep one crushing machine with a capacity of 5000 packs per day. Every evening, the pulp can be transported to our vendor for recycling.
Salma (thrilled): Wow! That’s great. Let’s do it!
Joseph (smiling benevolently): Yes, indeed. I want a team to start working on this from tomorrow with the first objective of preparing a final presentation of our composite proposal by this Thursday. I request all Heads to nominate one person from their respective departments by this evening to work full-time in the team. Puneet will head this team and Salma will be the Advisor. Our overall target will be to roll out our revamped product spectrum on the New Year day i.e. just about 4 months from now. Our public communication and advertisements should start a month before that. Therefore, Kavita, be ready with your communications accordingly.
And, Salma and Puneet, I cannot confirm this right now but the two of you may be asked to come as special invitees to the Board Meeting next week; so be prepared.
Finally, taking the cue from Salma’s suggestions, we will name this initiative as the “Zero Harm” project. This, you’ll all agree, is a significant step for our organization to cause zero harm to Environment, Health and Safety. I’m confident that this project will become a pioneering benchmark in the Food and Beverages industry and a matter of pride for all of you.
We’ll meet tomorrow same time for our first review. So, let’s get weaving and do a great job.
Author: Rajiv Sachdeva