Coca-Cola HBC on the way to climate neutrality

44% – this is how much Coca-Cola HBC has reduced its carbon footprint since 2010, thanks to consistent changes across its value chain. Concrete examples of these and other actions the company is implementing as part of its 2025 Sustainability Mission are presented in the latest ESG Report. Through modifications in packaging, energy efficiency, as well as a responsible approach to production and distribution, Coca-Cola HBC Poland and the Baltics is minimizing its environmental impact.

Coca-Cola HBC plans to achieve climate neutrality by 2040, reducing CO2 emissions across the value chain – by 25% by 2030 and by another 50% in the next decade. To achieve this goal, the company constantly monitors its environmental impact, including emissions resulting from areas such as packaging, raw materials, refrigeration equipment, distribution, fleet, and plant operations.

The above data is followed by concrete decisions and sustainable solutions. The result? 100% of purchased energy used at Coca-Cola HBC’s plants comes from renewable sources, nearly 60% of point-of-sale refrigerators have been replaced with more environmentally friendly equipment, and the company’s fleet increasingly consists of low-emission cars (the company does not buy cars with internal combustion engines or diesel).

Changes are also taking place in the packaging area. Today, 100% of Coca-Cola’s consumer packaging is recyclable. The company has also consistently reduced its weight – in 2022 alone, the preforms for half-liter and liter drinks were lightened, which saved 205 tons of plastic and reduced emissions by 449 tons of CO2. In recent years, the weight of 330 ml glass bottles and cans has also decreased – by 10%. The Coca-Cola system is just now rolling out new bottle caps attached to the PET bottles, so that all the packaging elements will be collected together, leaving less waste in the environment. The change is the result of a European Commission’s SUP directive with a deadline of implementation set for July 2024. This means that Coca-Cola implemented the solution almost a year earlier.

Innovations are also being introduced in bulk packaging. At Coca-Cola HBC’s production facilities, a 40% reduction in film consumption has been achieved by changing the transport film to a lighter but equally strong one. In turn, the innovative Keel Clip solution allowed replacing the shrink film of multipacks of cans with a cardboard holder.

– We make all business decisions guided by our clearly defined Sustainability Mission 2025 and climate commitments. Together with The Coca-Cola Company, we have been taking measures to minimize the impact of our business on the environment for years, and we present their effects in our annual ESG reports. We are making every effort to ensure that their scale grows and brings tangible results for the environment, as well as our customers and consumers – says Lucyna Sajdek, Sustainability Partnerships Manager at Coca-Cola HBC Poland and the Baltics.

Last Updated on October 27, 2023 by Anastazja Lach