Coca-Cola Europacific Partners invests £11m in reducing emissions at British bottling sites

Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP) is the biggest independent bottler of Coca-Cola globally. They’ve recently announced a major £11 million investment into its British manufacturing sites over the next five years. The announcement is part of the company’s drive to become a net-zero business by 2040.

Their 200-strong fleet of material handling equipment (MHE) which is used to transfer over 520 million unit cases of stock around the Coco-Cola bottler’s sites, will be replaced with units powered by lithium-ion batteries. This is to ensure they are producing no carbon emissions in their day to day operations. They are hoping the change will reduce CCEP GB’s carbon emissions by more than 1,500 tonnes each year.

The transition to more sustainable batteries in their material handling equipment fleet is already complete at the Morpeth factory and the Milton Keynes Cold Drinks Operation. Last month, the training began on the 76-strong MHE fleet being introduced at the soft drinks production site located in Wakefield. The transition is set to be completed at the four remaining bottler sites in Great Britain by 2024.

World-leading MHE manufacturer Linde Material Handling is working with CCEP to transition the equipment. Not only will the new fleet be powered solely by renewable electricity, but is also more efficient and safer to operate. The new equipment should also improve productivity, a full charge now takes just two hours, rather than eight! 

The fleet is also much more comfortable and easier to operate. It comes equipped with the Linde Safety Guard, a system that enhances safety for truck operators and any pedestrians in the vicinity of the truck.

The vice president and general manager of Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (GB), Stephen Moorhouse, has said: “With the major climate conference COP26 taking place at the moment, all businesses need to go further to reduce their environmental impact and help the UK government achieve its net-zero targets.”

Moorhouse explained that at CCEP GB they are not only ensuring they are using more sustainable materials in the products they sell, but are also making significant reductions in emissions from their own operations.

Frank Denvir, leading the project for Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (GB), described the investment as a significant step in making GB bottling and distribution operations cleaner, greener and more efficient. Denvir explained, “It’s been great to work with Linde to find a solution that will deliver a significant carbon reduction across our GB sites, whilst also improving the safety and usability of the machines for our hard-working teams.”

Eamonn Parker, the Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Linde Material Handling UK, commented: “We are proud to partner with them on this very significant investment in the sustainability, efficiency and safety of their manufacturing sites, and we look forward to working together for many years to come.”