San Benedetto presented its new carbon-neutral Ecogreen Easy bottle made with 100% RPET along with its environmental sustainability programme, announcing the results achieved to date, and the future goals towards a fully circular and zero-impact economy.
Over the 2019-2020 period, the San Benedetto Group reduced emissions by 37,900 tonnes of CO2-eq.
The press conference was attended by Enrico Zoppas, President and CEO of Acqua Minerale San Benedetto S.p.A., and by Senator Andrea Ferrazzi, Member of the 13th Standing Committee (territory, environment, environmental heritage) and first signatory of the legislative amendment that definitely removed the restriction on the production of PET bottles with a maximum of 50% of RPET.
The new Ecogreen 1l Easy bottle, San Benedetto’s first carbon-neutral product, is estimated to deliver a further 9% saving in greenhouse gas emissions throughout the entire product’s life cycle, using around 300 tonnes less of virgin PET in 2021.
“We are proud of our Group’s environmental achievements, which derive from a longstanding commitment in the Company’s industrial history. They also amount to one of the strategic assets for our future development.” - stated Enrico Zoppas, President and CEO of Acqua Minerale San Benedetto - “Constant research and innovation have led us to this launch – a milestone in our journey towards a fully-circular and zero-impact economy. Our journey also involves a greater use of RPET, which is why I would like to thank Senator Andrea Ferrazzi, who was among the driving forces behind the legislative amendment thanks to which we are today presenting our first Ecogreen 1l Easy 100% RPET bottle”.
“Ecological transition is about holding together environmental sustainability with economic and social sustainability. With my regulation, we have simply bridged the gap between an example of sustainable industrial excellence, and a dated regulatory system with a negative impact on both the environment and the economy. The 100% recycled bottle is a tangible sign of what the circular economy really means”-stated Senator Andrea Ferrazzi.
Acqua Minerale San Benedetto was the first Italian industrial company to start, in 2009, a voluntary agreement with the Ministry of the Environment to measure and assess carbon dioxide emissions, introducing improvement processes to reduce CO2-eq. Continuous research into new technologies and a focus on improving and optimizing industrial processes gave rise, in 2010, to the 1l Easy bottle, the first carbon-neutral mineral water on the market. In the wake of the success of the 1l Easy size, in 2012 San Benedetto presented its Ecogreen Line, an entire generation of bottles - from the half-litre to the 1l Easy, up to the 1.5 and 2l family sizes - made with up to 50% recycled plastic, and with 100% of CO2-eq emissions being offset through the purchase of credits to finance greenhouse gas reduction projects. Ecogreen was the first product line in Italy to receive validation in the Environmental Footprint Assessment Programme from the Ministry of the Environment.
Over the past seven years, this project is estimated to have allowed San Benedetto to reduce greenhouse gas emissions of the Ecogreen 1l Easy product by 24.5%, a result equal to the CO2 absorbed by 63,567 trees in one year. In addition, from 2013 to 2020 the Company reduced emissions of its entire Ecogreen line by 14.6%, equal to 8,826 tonnes of CO2-eq. and the CO2 absorbed by 294,200 trees in one year - using 5,165 tonnes of RPET.
The San Benedetto Group’s overall emissions reduction over the 2019-2020 period amounts to 6%, equal to -37,900 tonnes of CO2-eq.
Acqua Minerale San Benedetto proves once again to be a leading company in innovation, as the recent introduction of the Twist&Drink cap shows. Available for the 0.5l size of the Ecogreen line, the new cap is both practical and useful for consumers, and has an important ecology-related feature: being connected to the bottle, the cap is not lost in the environment, thereby facilitating recycling. With this innovation, San Benedetto anticipated European Directive 2019/904, which requires caps to be connected to bottles from 2024.
Last but not least, San Benedetto’s environmental policies also include the choice to diversify production at five strategic sites in Italy (Scorzè, Popoli, Donato, Viggianello and Atella), thus taking production closer to places of consumption. Through “Project Network”, a programme designed to enhance the value of high-quality local water resources around Italy, the Group has achieved a greater production and logistical flexibility while reducing the cost of transport and avoiding the emission of 23,221 tonnes of CO2-eq. This project has allowed 35,876 km “by road” to be avoided.
Such important goals have been achieved thanks to San Benedetto’s constant commitment towards environmental policies, where the Total Beverage Company continues to be a benchmark company for the sustainable model it has adopted. The main focus is on a constant reduction of emissions accompanied by a stronger culture of recycling, and the affirmation of the circular economy process.
