Milan, 15 June 2023 – Doing business in a sustainable way is an opportunity to stimulate innovation, an engine of economic and social growth. A vision of the future that finds concrete expression in the important investments made in the last 10 years by Coca-Cola HBC Italia, the main bottler of The Coca-Cola Company brand products in Italy, which has invested about half a billion euros in our country in initiatives aimed at promoting an innovation process particularly focused on the transition to a circular economy model. This is what emerges from the 19th Sustainability Report of Coca-Cola HBC Italia entitled "The Choice to Look Far Away", revised by Deloitte & Touche, prepared according to the GRI Standards in accordance international reporting parameters and published today.
At the heart of the investments are the company's 6 production plants in Campania, Veneto, Piedmont, Abruzzo and Basilicata where Coca-Cola HBC Italia has adopted the best production technologies. In particular, 2022 was the year of the reopening of the CCH CircularPET factory in Gaglianico (Biella), which is now an innovative plant capable of transforming up to 30,000 tons of PET per year into 100% recycled plastic (rPET) preforms destined for bottling the beverage portfolio in Italy: a concrete example of industrial innovation at the service of sustainability.
Added to this is the great attention paid to the innovation of primary and secondary packaging, to facilitate circularity, with the achievement of important milestones, such as the growing use of recycled plastic (rPET), now extended to all the company's PET drinks and the implementation of "Tethered Cap" to keep the caps tied to the bottles, with the aim of reducing the dispersion of plastic into the environment.
Coca-Cola HBC Italia's sustainable recipe is not limited to packaging but looks at the entire supply chain, as evidenced by the Group's NetZeroby40 strategy, to achieve net zero emissions along the entire value chain by 2040. Italy, also in this area, confirms its commitment and results: during 2022 the company reduced the intensity of Scope 1 and Scope 2 Market Based emissions by 47% compared to 2010, equal to a decrease in absolute value of 45,000 tons of CO2, equivalent to about 375,000 car trips from Milan to Rome.
"We have an ambitious path ahead of us to continue to grow by creating value for our stakeholders and for the communities that host us: it is no coincidence that the title of this year's Report is "The choice to look far ahead," said Giangiacomo Pierini , Corporate Affairs & Sustainability Director of Coca-Cola HBC Italia .To face the ecological transition, companies must be put in a position to be able to invest, without legislative interventions that redefine new industrial logics far from production realities or that lead to the introduction of new taxes. The possible entry into force of the European regulation on packaging, for example, as hypothesized in the Commission's text – with a cost to the industry of 18.7 billion euros – or the confirmation of the Plastic and Sugar Tax on 1 January 2024 – with an increase in the average tax burden for the industry of 28% – would risk impacting a sector already struggling with increases in raw material prices and inflation".
The Sustainability Report also describes the other areas of action of Coca-Cola HBC Italia, which include projects aimed at communities: the 62,000 young talents who took part in the #YouthEmpowered job orientation program and the donation of over 650 thousand meals to Banco Alimentare. In addition to all these projects, there is a focus on the growth and well-being of the approximately 2,000 employees who, in addition to being involved in more than 50,000 hours of training and orientation courses, in 2022 were supported in dealing with a difficult economic context thanks to a Welfare Bonus of €800.
The 2022 edition of the Report is also enriched by a first project dedicated to the protection of Italian biodiversity , which sees bees as the protagonists. Those same bees that protect the ecosystem, defend the well-being of the territory, and allow the reproduction of plant organisms, such as sugar and citrus fruits necessary for many of Coca-Cola drinks. The company has adopted a beehive for each of the regions where its production facilities and headquarters are located, to protect 1.8 million bees, which will pollinate as many flowers.
The full report is only available in digital format on www.lanostraricetta.it