Assess KORE (Coca-cola operating requirements) compliance (at coca-cola India bottling units) to waste water quality requirements - with specific reference to soil and groundwater quality monitoring
Student name: Ms Deeksha Chopra
Guide: Dr Devesh Sharma
Year of completion: 2011
Host Organisation: Coca-Cola India
Supervisor (Host Organisation): Mr Mukul Kumar
Abstract: Wastewater management is one of the key environmental aspects of the facility operations of The Coca-Cola Company’s
business. Company policy requires compliance with all applicable laws and regulations and adhering to the TCCC
/KORE requirements regarding wastewater treatment. Further, the policy requires that wastewater discharged from the
facilities into river waters or other natural bodies of water or for on-land irrigation be treated to a level capable of
supporting aquatic life. In India, this is achieved through on-site wastewater treatment. The treated water is discharge
either into the municipal/ industrial drain as per the consent of local regulatory body, or used for on-land irrigation as per
requirements of KORE and the local regulatory body. For on-land irrigation KORE specifies certain requirements with the
fundamental principle being that the disposal of treated wastewater on land for irrigation should not degrade the soil and
groundwater quality in the downstream direction compared to that of upstream.
The broad objectives of the project was to assess Compliance to the Coca-Cola operating requirements (KORE) with
respect to wastewater quality- special focus on soil and groundwater monitoring requirements and come up with a
guidance document for soil and ground water quality monitoring.The approach adopted is to conduct the project work
starting with the review of the wastewater quality requirements (as per KORE). After understanding the Coca-Cola system,
a questionnaire was prepared which was simple and user-friendly intended for use by Coca-Cola India Bottling units. This
questionnaire was circulated to the various Coca-Cola bottling units. The next step was to validate the questionnaire by
visiting the plants. Six Coca-Cola plants were visited for assessment. The data collected during the visits was collated and
analysed.
From analysis a general compliance to KORE requirements with respect to treated wastewater quality and groundwater
and soil quality monitoring is concluded. Critical aspects related to soil and groundwater quality monitoring requirements
are discussed in the report.
Keywords: wastewater discharge, on-land irrigation, wastewater treatment, soil quality, groundwater quality
