SUSTAINABLE PACKAGING AND INDUSTRIAL INNOVATIONS AT THE HEART OF COCA-COLA'S STRATEGY TO CONCRETELY FACE THE CHALLENGE OF THE ECOLOGICAL TRANSITION IN ITALY

Projects, results and prospects for over 130 million euros invested in recent years, reported in the 18th Sustainability Report of Coca-Cola HBC Italia.

Milan, 21 June 2022 - Integrating sustainability into every aspect of the business is the commitment on which Coca-Cola HBC Italia, the main bottler of The Coca-Cola Company brand products in Italy, has focused: in Italy, over 130 million euros have been invested in recent years in industrial innovation and packaging projects to accelerate the transition to an increasingly circular economytag. This is what emerges from the company's eighteenth Sustainability Report entitled "From 100% rPET to net ZERO", revised by Deloitte & Touche and prepared according to the most advanced international reporting parameters of the GRI Standards (Global Reporting Initiative) and published today. 

In addition to industrial investments in the six production sites throughout the country, great attention has been paid to innovation in primary and secondary packaging, including the launch of the first bottle with 100% recycled plastic (rPET), the introduction of caps combined with FuzeTea bottles (Tethered Caps) to facilitate recycling and KeelClip™, the innovative 100% recyclable paper packaging. A challenge that does not stop at packaging but concerns the entire supply chain, as evidenced by the Group's new Net Zero by 40 strategy created with the aim of achieving zero net emissions along the entire value chain by 2040.

"For 18 years we have been telling our commitment to the environment, people and the communities in which we operate within our sustainability report" said Giangiacomo Pierini, Corporate Affairs & Sustainability Director of Coca-Cola HBC Italia "This year we did it using numbers: "From 100 to 0" it is a simple and transparent way to communicate the beginning and end of a journey made of data, which from the creation of the first 100% rPET bottle will lead us towards a horizon of zero net emissions along the entire value chain by 2040. A path that has been made possible thanks to the work and passion of the almost 2,000 colleagues of Coca-Cola HBC Italia".

The Sustainability Report also tells the other ingredients of Coca-Cola HBC Italia's recipe which, in addition to the environment, include attention to the growth and well-being of employees working between offices, plants and the sales force, involved in more than 60,000 hours of training during 2021. A commitment that does not stop within the company but is also realized in projects and initiatives aimed at communities: from the 100,000 young people who took part in the #YouthEmpowered job orientation program, to the donation of 1.2 million products to local associations and 3 million meals through the Food Bank.  

The full report is only available in digital format on www.lanostraricetta.it.