Business has the bottle to achieve its sustainability goals

For big corporations, the journey to net zero can only be completed with the collaboration and support of their entire supply and value chains. Coca-Cola HBC is committed to achieving net zero emissions across its entire value chain by 2040 and, over the past decade, its Irish business operation has reduced production emissions by 60 per cent.

“It is our belief that no market-leading business can operate successfully without an authentic commitment to sustainability and we have a long history of delivering on our sustainability commitments and continually tracking our progress against our goals,” says Coca-Cola HBC director of corporate affairs and sustainability Tom Burke.

“The primary goal of our NetZeroBy40 action plan is to adapt our business and ways of working to reduce our emissions to the lowest level possible,” Burke adds. “We know that we cannot erase all emissions from our business, so we will reduce them to the lowest possible and seek to mitigate any remaining emissions. We will also support our partners and suppliers in their efforts to get to this critical goal by 2040.”

The company’s World Without Waste strategy sees it working with suppliers and partners to design more sustainable packaging and take action to ensure that packaging does not end up as waste.

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“In Ireland our targets include the achievement of at least 50 per cent recycled plastic use by 2025 and collection of at least 75 per cent of all packaging placed on the market,” says Burke. “Earlier this month we transferred to 100 per cent recycled plastic for all our plastic bottled soft drinks.”

Packaging isn’t the only area of focus. The Coca-Cola HBC Lisburn facility has already reduced direct carbon emissions by 60 per cent and overall emissions by 32 per cent.

“But we know we need to do more,” says Burke. “We are also looking at how to better reduce our energy emissions. Over 50 per cent of our refrigeration in customer outlets is already provided via energy-efficient next-generation coolers and we are continuing to work with suppliers on innovations and further energy reduction programmes.”

Returning to the single-use plastics issue, Burke reiterates that all plastic bottles across in the company’s soft drinks portfolio in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland are now made with 100 per cent recycled plastic. This has eliminated the need for more than 7,070 tonnes of virgin plastic each year and makes a substantial contribution to lowering carbon emissions in the production process, as recycled plastic has a 69 per cent lower carbon footprint.

“We have consistently reduced plastic use through the ‘light-weighting’ of our bottles,” he adds. “Partnering with suppliers and designers, we have introduced a cardboard packaging solution for our multipack cans to eliminate ‘single use’ plastic shrink wrap. In total, this eliminates over 442 tonnes of shrink wrap plastic annually.”

Partnerships are key to the overall sustainability effort. “In 2023 we invested in the second #CircleCity initiative, this time in Belfast, following a successful two-year pilot in Dublin,” says Burke. “These partnerships include environmental charity Hubbub, The Coca-Cola Foundation and the City Councils in both Dublin and Belfast, and support the development of on-the-go recycling infrastructure across the city.

“After a successful first phase in 2020 we scaled up, doubling the number of recycling points on Dublin high streets. As a result, Hubbub reports that 83 per cent of the plastic bottles and cans in the areas covered by the scheme now end up in the recycling bins, as opposed to general waste.”

Looking ahead, Burke says the company will reduce direct emissions by an additional 60 per cent by 2030 relative to 2017.

“We also have shorter-term goals in areas such as energy, transport, packaging and cooling.” he adds. “We have committed to transition all our company-owned fleet to EVs by 2030. By the end of 2023 we will already have 43 per cent, or 152, of our total fleet be fully electric. We will further decarbonise direct operations by switching our electricity to a 100 per cent renewable source and significantly increasing renewable energy use in other aspects of the business.”

Finally, Burke points out that progress to date has mainly been achieved by targeting Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions, the emissions arising directly from within the business.

“Over 90 per cent of the emissions associated with our business are Scope 3 – emissions coming from outside of our internal processes. Coca-Cola HBC is committed to working together with our supply-chain partners to eliminate these emissions. Where that is not possible we will look to mitigate or remove these by investing in other climate-protection measures.”