Sustainability-focused hedge fund Engine No. 1 has taken a small stake in Coca-Cola Co and is pushing the soda giant to ramp up its efforts to recycle more of its cans and bottles, newly launched global news platform Semafor has reported.
The activist investor, which won an against-the-odds board challenge against Exxon Mobil Corp last year, is calling for Coca-Cola to invest in or partner with a waste-management company to develop additional recycling capacity, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter.
Recyclable Packaging
Coca-Cola aims to have 100% of its packaging recyclable globally by 2025 and use at least 50% recycled material in its packaging by 2030, according to its sustainability goals.
The investor has suggested a partnership between Coca-Cola and garbage collection and recycling company Republic Services Inc, in which Engine No. 1 holds a stake, the report said, adding that Coke executives have reached out to Republic.
Coca-Cola, Engine No. 1 and Republic did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment.
Read More: Systemic Change In Food Packaging Recycling 'Only Possible Through Partnerships': Study
In August of this year, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP) announced a sustainability-linked supply chain finance programme in association with Rabobank.
The new initiative incentivises and rewards suppliers to make sustainability-focused improvements in their businesses.
It will provide competitive financing linked to a number of sustainability-driven KPIs for suppliers that, when met, unlock incremental discounts against the initial funding rate and align with CCEP’s own action to reduce emissions across its value chain and reach net zero by 2040, the company noted.
News by Reuters, edited by ESM. For more packaging news, click here. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
