SWITZERLAND – Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company, the third-largest Coca-Cola anchor bottler in the world, has made a commitment to reduce emissions to net-zero across its entire value chain by 2040. 

To achieve this goal, the Zug, Switzerland-based bottler has committed to invest €250m ($289m) in emissions reduction initiatives by 2025.  

Part of the funds will go towards facilitating the company’s transition to 100% renewable electricity and low carbon energy sources.  

Coca-Cola HBC also plans to invest in continuous improvements and innovations in energy efficiency to further reduce the carbon footprint of its operations. 

The company further plans to reduce emissions from agricultural ingredients, implement a “Green Fleet” programme to switch to low and no carbon alternatives, and provide energy-efficient and eco-friendly coolers to customers.  

As part of the net-zero journey, Coca-Cola HBC also plans to accelerate its journey to a more circular, lower carbon packaging approach by increasing rPET use, adopting packageless and refillable options, and removing plastics in secondary packaging. 

The Coca-Cola bottler, which serves more than 600 million consumers across 28 countries, has further noted that it will broaden its existing partnership approach with suppliers to reduce emissions. 

A target for 2030 will also see the company reduce its value chain emissions in scopes 1,2 and 3 by 25%; with a further 50% reduction in the following decade. 

Where emissions cannot be eliminated entirely, Coca-Cola HBC has committed to invest in other climate protection measures to offset what it releases to the atmosphere. 

“This commitment is the ultimate destination of a journey that we started many years ago,” said Zoran Bogdanovic, CEO of Coca-Cola HBC.    

“It is fully aligned with our philosophy to support the socio-economic development of our communities and to make a more positive environmental impact. Both are integral to our future growth.” 

Earlier this year, Coca-Cola HBC’s sister company and Europe’s largest Coca-Cola bottler, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP), unveiled its first two carbon neutral factories – one in Spain and the other in Sweden. 

The two facilities were part of the company’s climate commitments made late last year where it pledged to reduce emissions across the value chain by 30% by 2030 and to bring them to net-zero by 2040. 

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