COCA-COLA HBC ITALIA FOCUSES ON ECODESIGN TO WIN THE CHALLENGE OF SUSTAINABILITY

The company, which in 2019 achieved increasingly virtuous results in the use of plastic, glass and aluminum, hopes that the Government will eliminate legislative limits on the use of recycled plastic contrary to the Circular Economy.

Sesto San Giovanni (MI), 25 June 2020 – Coca-Cola HBC Italia, the main bottler and distributor of The Coca-Cola Company brand products in Italy, today published its 16th Sustainability Report, entitled Siamo di casa. A document that certifies the company's results in all areas of the business, from the relationship with local communities to the environment, from market presence to the well-being of the approximately 2,000 people who work between the offices, the five plants and in the sales force. Particular attention is paid to environmental challenges, where the company's investments go with a view to continuous improvement both in the different phases of the production process and in eco-design, i.e. the design of packaging with an increasingly efficient use of the materials of which they are made: thanks to this commitment, bottles and cans, which have always been 100% recyclable, have seen the quantities of plastic, glass and aluminum needed to produce them reduce by 20%, 25% and 15% respectively.

"We are at the forefront of the challenge of Sustainability precisely because of our respect for the territories in which we operate," said Vitaliy Novikov, CEO of Coca-Cola HBC Italia "Ecodesign represents an important frontier on which we want to continue to invest in order to design and that is why we hope that Parliament and the Government will decide to remove the maximum limit on the use of 50% recycled plastic. present only in Italy, so as to allow us to be even more sustainable and bring the concept of Circular Economy to real completion".

The decree of 20 September 2013, no. 134, in fact, prevents companies in the sector from using more than 50% recycled plastic, a limit devoid of logic that prevents what already happens in other European countries where the plastic used in bottles is not only recyclable but also recycled, a real brake on investments in sustainability and a limit to the principles of Circular Economy to which the European directives on single-use plastic are inspired.

Also with regard to industrial processes, the company places sustainability at the center, whether it is the production phase of beverages, in which electricity from 100% renewable sources is used, or logistics , where the improvement of flows has allowed a saving of over 1,400 tons of CO2 over the last year alone, or the presence on the market where the introduction of eco-friendly and energy-efficient display cabinets made it possible to save over 3,700 tons of CO2 in 2019.

The Sustainability Report, prepared and certified according to the most advanced international reporting parameters of the GRI Standards, is available in full on the www.lanostraricetta.it website