Coca-Cola Europacific Partners New Zealand Meets RE100 Commitment

Coca-Cola Europacific Partners New Zealand (CCEP NZ) has met its commitment to the RE100 – the global initiative by The Climate Group that is bringing together businesses that are committed to 100% renewable electricity by adopting Meridian Energy’s 100% Certified Renewable Energy product.

Meridian is New Zealand's largest renewable energy generator and generates electricity from 100% renewable sources – wind, water and sun.

The move also takes CCEP NZ a step closer towards its commitment to sustainability, aiming to reach net zero reported emissions by 2040.

Since 1 April 2021, 100% of CCEP NZ’s electricity has been certified under the New Zealand Energy Certificate System (NZECS). NZECS verifies that the electricity it consumes from the national grid is matched on an annual basis with electricity produced from Meridian’s certified hydro stations and wind farms. This enables CCEP NZ to report its market-based Scope Two electricity emissions – those emissions linked to electricity usage – as zero.[1]

CCEP NZ Managing Director, Chris Litchfield, said he's proud the organisation has achieved the RE100 commitment in advance of their original 2025 goal.

“Our investment in Certified Renewable Energy product is another step in our sustainabilityjourney and demonstrates our commitment to driving change and leading the beverage industry by example,” said Litchfield.

“As a business, we have ambitious goals to reduce our environmental impact – significantly increasing our investment in recycled plastic, and working with Government, industry and environmental partners to help find solutions. Meridian’s Certified Renewable Energy product helps us achieve our sustainability goals and we are proud to partner with them."

CCEP NZ Head of Sustainability, Clarke Truscott confirms the focus is on first reducing their own emissions, rather than offsetting.

"Our ambition is to reach Net Zero by 2040 – 10 years ahead of the Paris Climate agreement – and we're developing decarbonisation roadmaps to provide a view on how this ambition will be achieved," said Truscott.

"Our first focus is on reducing emissions as far as possible and to offset where essential, and then investing in projects which remove carbon from the atmosphere or verified carbon offset projects. Our investment in Meridian’s Certified Renewable Electricity product is evidence of our commitment to reducing our reported emissions and is another step in the right direction to achieve this."

Meridian uses the net proceeds from its 100% Certified Renewable Energy product to invest in projects that will help New Zealand decarbonise, including through its Decarbonisation Community Fund such as EV charging stations, solar panels, and process heat electrification.

Meridian Chief Customer Officer, Lisa Hannifin, said that Meridian’s Certified Renewable Energy product has been created for businesses that care about New Zealand’s energy future.

“We’re pleased to be welcoming CCEP NZ into the group of organisations that have adopted Certified Renewable Energy product.”

As a leading beverage manufacturer, CCEP NZ committed to driving change and leading the beverage industry by example through a number of waste-reduction initiatives. This includes ensuring all its plastic bottles, aluminum cans and glass bottles used as part of beverage production are recyclable, and all Coca-Cola bottles in New Zealand smaller than 1 litre, and all sizes of water bottles are made from recycled PET plastic.[2]CCEP NZ are also working with Government and industry to support work towards a not-for-profit container return scheme.

[1] Using the market-based reporting methodology as per the GHG Protocol’s Scope 2 Standards.

[2] CCEP NZ’s caps and labels are currently not made from recycled content, but the organisation is exploring technical options to address this.