Coca-Cola Hellenic Hails Successful EU Sustainable Energy Week

Coca-Cola Hellenic marked EU Sustainable Energy Week (EUSEW) with a series of events designed to shine a spotlight on energy-efficiency.

Clean coast in the bag: Coca-Cola Hellenic's Gillian Shields with Patricia Magee from Tidy Northern Ireland, helping with the clean up of Brown's Bay during EU Sustainable Energy Week (Photo: Business Wire)

Coca-Cola Hellenic, which is one of the world’s largest bottlers and distributors of products of The Coca-Cola Company, was an enthusiastic participant in EUSEW (11-15 April), an annual Europe-wide event which this year had the theme "smart energy for a sustainable future”.

During the week, Coca-Cola Hellenic held 32 events across eight European countries to share its experience of becoming more energy efficient. People were invited to take part in activities ranging from guided tours of the Combined Heat and Power (CHP) plants the company has installed to provide clean energy for its bottling plants, to planting 15,000 trees.

Ulrike Gehmacher, Public Affairs and Communication Manager, Coca-Cola Hellenic, who co-ordinated the company events across Europe, said: "We have innovative energy-efficiency measures in place at all of our 77 bottling plants and we are on target to reduce CO₂ emissions by up to 20% in absolute terms before 2020.

"EU Sustainable Energy Week provides a fantastic platform to share our experiences and to make an even bigger impact. By using a range of different initiatives across eight countries we involved employees, stakeholders and local communities throughout the week.”

Activities included, but were not limited to, the following:

• Greece – all 2,000 employees received eco-driving tips with more than 1,200 attending interactive seminars, held in association with Toyota. All employees also participated in an awareness-raising campaign in association with WWF Hellas designed to give a deeper understanding about the benefits of energy-efficiency.
• Ireland – open day and seminar on water stewardship for key environmental stakeholders to highlight the importance of water as a valuable resource. This included presentations on best practice from businesses in Northern Ireland, including Coca-Cola Hellenic which is focused on steadily reducing the level of water usage at its Lisburn facility. A coastal protection event in County Antrim also resulted in 43 bags of litter being cleared from Brown’s Bay in Larne.
• Italy – Coca-Cola Hellenic Italy held open days at its bottling plants in Rionerio, Elmas, Gaglianico, Nogara, Oricola and Marcianise, to showcase energy-saving initiatives such as brand-new photovoltaic installations which will guarantee a combined reduction of 11,500 tonnes of CO₂ a year. The open days were attended by more than 850 people in identified target groups including stakeholders, journalists, schoolchildren and members of the local community. The Nogara facility, where a CHP plant has reduced CO₂ emissions by 66% and increased energy efficiency by up to 83%, also hosted a meeting of the Global Compact Network Italia in which 14 companies shared their experiences and aims on energy saving and alternative energies.
• Romania – On the first anniversary of the installation of a CHP plant in Ploiesti, Coca-Cola Hellenic Romania held a special event for journalists and students from the Economic University in Ploiesti. This included a presentation on energy-saving milestones and a tour of the CHP plant and energy efficient high-bay warehouse.
• Serbia – More than 600 employees in nine cities in Serbia and Montenegro took part in an internal campaign to raise awareness of the importance of energy-efficiency at work and at home. At the heart of the campaign was an interactive quiz for all employees to highlight how they can make an individual difference and become more energy-efficient. Each employee also received an eco-diploma with practical tips applicable in everyday situations.
• Austria – 150 students from four local technical colleges joined employees to learn more about PET-to-PET recycling. This included guided tours of the PET-to-PET recycling plant, videos, and sharing the latest research on the ecological impact of PET. A representative from ARA, the Austrian waste recycling organisation, also gave a broader view of recycling and waste collection.
• Poland – 240 employees and their families planted 15,000 trees. This takes the number of trees planted by Coca-Cola Hellenic Poland since 2007 to 41,000, drawing attention to the need for everyone in the community to act responsibly towards the environment by lowering CO₂ emissions.
• Switzerland - Coca-Cola Hellenic Switzerland partnered with the cantonal power station EKZ to provide sessions for their staff to learn about responsible energy use, how consumption can be reduced at work and simple steps for reducing it at home. Measuring energy use during a two-week period brought very promising results. The company achieved energy savings of 19.4% compared to the year before. This equates to 907 kWh, or 630 light bulbs (60 watt) being left on for 24 hours a day. The saving placed Coca-Cola Hellenic Switzerland among the best-performing companies, as only a quarter of those taking part have so far saved more than 10%.

Coca-Cola Hellenic is recognised by Dow Jones Sustainability Index as being in the top 10% of the most sustainable companies in the world. A longstanding participant of the UN Global Compact, it has also been consistently listed on the FTSE4Good Index since 2000 and works with over 200 stakeholder organisations at local, national and international levels in pursuing sustainability goals.

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