Our Approach

We are proud to remain global industry leaders in sustainability this year, with leading scores and rankings in ten of the most-recognised ESG ratings. We were ranked as the world’s most sustainable beverage company in the 2024 Dow Jones Best-in-Class Indices for the eighth time.

We believe our success comes from continuously evolving our business model to deliver growth and taking a strategic approach to sustainability. This approach allows us to both grow and make our business more resilient.

In 2024, we made good progress towards our ambitious and measurable 2025 sustainability objectives by focusing on areas where we can have the greatest impact: climate, packaging and water. We have reduced emissions for the past four years, in line with our NetZeroby40 roadmap. In early 2025, the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) approved our NetZeroby40 target which, for the first time, includes Egypt. We also published our first Sustainability Statement as part of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) requirements. 

We continue to build our capabilities, collaborate and learn from our experience to build a strong and resilient business that is opening up a more sustainable future.  

For the eighth time, the company has been ranked as the world’s most sustainable beverage company in the 2024 Dow Jones Best-in-Class Indices. These were formerly known as the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI) and are issued by S&P Global. The S&P Global Sustainability Yearbook 2025 rankings are now publicly available and confirm the company’s number one global ranking. The company’s efforts were also recognised by the double-A rating from CDP on climate and water in 2024.

These achievements are the result of our clear vision and targets in sustainability, bold and entrepreneurial mindset, and continuing investment in technology and innovation. Strong collaboration with our suppliers and partners and highly skilled and committed colleagues working across our markets have also been crucial to this success. We know we still have work to do and remain committed to being part of the solution to global sustainability challenges. 

Sustainability is integrated across every aspect of our business. It is fundamental to our business strategy, which aims to create and share value with all of our stakeholders. This defines how we run our business, carry out our activities and develop our relationships. 

• Making progress on circular packaging: Empty bottles are a valuable resource, and recycling them can help to decrease our costs and achieve our collection targets. Nine of our markets now have Deposit Return Schemes (DRS). Four successful DRS have been launched between December 2023 and January 2025 in Romania, Hungary, the Republic of Ireland and Austria. DRS help to consistently deliver high packaging collection rates. For example, in Romania (launched December 2023) results are encouraging, with an average return rate of 77% of containers sold in the market in the last three months of 2024. In 2025, we expect to achieve, on average, above 60% recycled material in our PET packaging in all our EU countries and Switzerland. 
• Driving progress through innovative business models: In Nigeria, our innovative approach to collection and recycling is creating value for us and local communities. In 2024, we built the country’s first-ever Coca-Cola System-owned and operated packaging collection hub, allowing us to collect plastic bottles for recycling. 
• Expanding reusable packaging: We continue to grow our transactions sold in Returnable Glass Bottles (RGB) with a 1pp increase compared with last year, including Africa. We are testing new business models such as a circular packaging campus with a leading university in Italy and we expect to expand this model across our territories. 
• Partnering with local stakeholders: We started to collaborate on a project in Nogara, Italy, that will add up to 1.5 million m³ of water every year to the local aquifer near our production plant. We will help to create a network of canals, trees and shrubs to revitalise fresh water for agriculture and community use. 
• Investing for sustainable growth: We received a $130 million loan from the EBRD to finance capex and working capital requirements in Egypt. This loan recognises our long-term commitment to Egypt and allows us to invest in energy-efficient coolers and sustainable packaging innovation and continue to fund our #YouthEmpowered and ‘She Leads’ programmes. 
• Supporting communities: We awarded grants totalling €1.55 million from the Coca-Cola HBC Foundation to help rebuild communities in Europe and Nigeria impacted by severe floods. We have also collaborated with governments and NGOs to assist impacted communities, delivering almost 400,000 litres of beverages through local charities and municipalities. 
• Adding value for our customers: Sustainability initiatives are increasingly important for our customers and consumers. Our customers tell us they value our sustainability expertise and that joint sustainability initiatives help grow their business, which, in turn helps make our own business stronger.