'Maidaan Saaf': Coca-Cola's Kumbh Effort on Discovery

Coca-Cola India's massive waste management and sustainability campaign, 'Maidaan Saaf,' for Maha Kumbh 2025 will be showcased in a documentary premiere on Discovery Channel on 19 May 2025 at 7 PM and on discovery+ on 20 May 2025. The campaign will showcase the grassroots implementation and outreach of the campaign, which worked towards solving waste issues and facilitating recycling efforts at one of the world's largest religious events.

Coca-Cola India initiated 'Maidaan Saaf' to tackle the environmental issue with an end-to-end waste management program, recognizing the potential for a nationwide demonstration of green processes at the Maha Kumbh Mela at Prayagraj, which has around 1 to 2 crore daily footfalls and generating humongous amounts of waste and creating serious sanitation and segregation of waste issues. The project entailed various strategic interventions such as installation of Reverse Vending Machines (RVMs), utilization of post-consumer recycled PET material for public installations, and door-to-door campaign to create awareness among local communities regarding waste segregation.

The campaign was carried out on a partnership model where Coca-Cola India partnered with government officials, civil servants, and community workers to facilitate implementation of effective solutions despite the logistical problem caused by the high-density congregation. The movie shows us behind the scenes on how such coalitions operated on the ground and operating issues on the ground that were encountered during the event. It has commentary by senior officials who were behind sanitation planning, making reference to how corporate sponsorship can bring out public effort in high-stress situations.

The physical effect of the campaign was cleaner environments, less litter, and more public awareness of recycling behavior. Maidaan Saaf also facilitated behavioral change among vendors and pilgrims who involved themselves in segregation of waste and utilization of recycling kiosks. RVMs were a technological innovation that rewarded disposal of plastic bottles, which is consistent with Coca-Cola's general sustainability objective of encouraging recyclable packaging and less environmental footprint.

Coca-Cola's presence at the Kumbh Mela was also highlighted in its company quarterly report, where it labeled the campaign as a milestone brand activation success. The report noted that Coca-Cola enabled the installation of approximately 1,400 mobile vending points, created hundreds of refreshment shelters, and put up a record 100-door cooler wall to serve the massive throng. These activation activities collectively accounted for over 180 million beverages servings at this event, which represented a major single-site activation in the history of the company.

The film documents the action along with the larger vision of sustainability for Coca-Cola India. The campaign encourages the company's initiative towards minimizing its carbon footprint and encouraging recycling with tangible actions in public places with impact. The 'Maidaan Saaf' campaign was not only a green initiative but also encouraged Coca-Cola's brand footprint in terms of tangible community touch points and alignments to cultural values.

Coca-Cola India operates by the vision of 'Beverages for Life' with a portfolio of beverages that include Coca-Cola, Thums Up, Sprite, Fanta, Limca, Maaza, Minute Maid, and a number of hydration and premium drinks such as Kinley, Smartwater, and Costa Coffee. It distributes its brands across almost four million points of presence across India by virtue of its bottling partners and franchisee businesses. As part of its journey to sustainability, Coca-Cola continues to invest in packaging innovation, efforts to reduce carbon, and water conservation initiatives.

Worldwide, The Coca-Cola Company and its bottling partners employ more than 700,000 people who strive to generate economic value and social value. The 'Maidaan Saaf' program of the Maha Kumbh Mela reiterates that the company believes in localized sustainability programs and can scale up green programs through cooperation with public authorities and local stakeholders.

The new documentary will provide a closer glimpse into all these efforts, presenting a template of sensible waste management techniques that can be adopted by large public events. It will be made a reference material for future government-private sector collaborations as far as working towards sustainability goals in mass events is concerned.

Source/Credits:
official press release dated 19 May 2025 issued by Coca-Cola India.