Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company (CC HBC), the Swiss bottler of the American soft drink giant Coca-Cola, is launching a call for applications for African start-ups proposing innovative solutions in plastic waste management. This initiative is part of the company's sustainability policy for better management of its waste.
“No packaging is sustainable if it is poorly disposed of”. These words are from Dominik Mory, packaging specialist at Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company (CC HBC). The Swiss-based Coca-Cola bottler is launching an initiative called the Global Sustainability Challenge to support the circular economy and accelerate its “World Without Waste” program.
To this end, Coca-Cola HBC is organizing a competition for start-ups with innovative solutions for collecting plastic packaging. The winning solution will receive a prize worth €100,000 at the end of the competition, for which the deadline for applications is 18 February 2022.
“This competition will not only amplify the role of technology in addressing the global packaging challenge, but it will also give us the opportunity, to incubate viable start-ups and bring together a powerful ecosystem of experts and stakeholders to galvanize action towards a waste-free world,” says Zoran Bogdanovic, CEO of Coca-Cola HBC.
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According to several experts, recycling is essential for sustainable use of packaging and the technology not only reduces the proliferation of waste, but also reduces CO₂ emissions. As part of their sustainability policies, several companies are aiming for carbon neutrality across their value chains in the coming years. “We are looking to continually raise the bar to ensure that we are supporting the socio-economic development of our communities and making a positive contribution when it comes to environmental impact,” says Matthieu Seguin, general manager of the Nigerian Bottling Company (NBC), Coca-Cola’s franchise bottler in Nigeria.
For more information on the call for applications, click here.
Benoit-Ivan Wansi
