Coca-Cola arm keen on green plant plan

By Neil Merrett

- Last updated on GMT

Related tags European union

The Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company (CCH) has announced plans
to cut its annual carbon dioxide emissions by about 20 per cent by
the end of next year, with a new production strategy.

The group, which is responsible for bottling Coca-Cola brands in a number of European countries, said this week that it would move to build 15 energy efficient combined heat and power (CHP) plants as part of the focus. As consumers become increasingly concerned at the environmental impacts of what they consume, processors are under greater pressure to ensure their products, including packaging, are both socially and environmentally sustainable. ​By working with development company ContourGlobal, the company aims to supply efficient "clean"​ electricity and hot and chilled water at the fifteen sites, which will run across 12 countries of operation, eight of which are EU members. ​CCH managing director Doros Constantinou said that the company's plans to roll out the technology across it production cycle, following the success of a similar CHP site at its Hungarian bottling plant.​In the Hungarian plant's first year of operation, CCH claimed that it was able to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 43 per cent, while reducing energy costs over the period by €400,000. "The benefits realised through the construction of the HungarianCHPplant led to our decision to roll out further facilities as part of a large-scale energy efficiency initiative,"​ stated Constantinou. "As the 15 new plants come into service we will continuously review the benefits achieved with a view to adding more plants across the Group."​European Commission vice president Günter Verheugen attended the company's announcement, and said that schemes such as the building of CHP plants were vital to meet EU goals for greenhouse gas emissions. "It demonstrates that environmental and economic goals can be pursued in unison,"​ he stated. "It also demonstrates how innovation is not just a driver of economic competitiveness, but can also underpin business contribution to wider societal goals, such as the fight against climate change."​The plants will be constructed in Greece, Italy, Northern Ireland, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia in the European Union, as well as in Nigeria, Russia, Serbia and Ukraine.​CCH claims that it will build two CHP plants each within Italy, Russia and Romania.

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