Coca-Cola Europacific Partners in Germany invests over 40 million euros in refillable bottling infrastructure

Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP) in Germany has bolstered its reusable packaging capabilities with an investment of over 40 million euros into returnable bottles.

The investment will fund a new filling line in Lüneburg, Northern Germany, along with a new packaging machine for glass bottles in Mönchengladbach, West Germany, boosting CCEP’s plans to expand the availability of drinks sold in returnable glass bottles.

With the use of glass bottles expected to grow across Germany over the coming years, this investment will help to drive progress on sustainability ambitions while meeting market demand. CCEP in Germany has already introduced a new 1-litre glass bottle for Coca-Cola and Coca-Cola Zero Sugar in 2019.

The new filling line in Lüneburg is expected to help decrease carbon emissions from packaging by shortening the distance travelled from production line to end consumers in the North of Germany.

It follows a 130 million euro investment in reusable packaging over the last three years; in new filling systems and components and reusable containers, and is set to generate jobs in the region, with the Lüneburg plant scheduled to go into operation by Summer 2024.

Investing in refillable solutions is just one of the ways that CCEP is seeking to eliminate packaging waste and reduce its carbon footprint, in line with its ambition to become net zero by 2040 and reduce emissions across its value chain by 30% by 2030, as part of its sustainability action plan This is Forward.

You can read this story on the local site here (in German).