Circular Economy Alliance and Coca-Cola HBC join forces to empower the youth in Circular Economy

Companies are quickly realizing that providing value to shareholders can only be achieved by providing value to all stakeholders. In other words, companies that are looking to remain competitive and profitable, need to integrate purpose in their business model and strategy aiming to contribute to society. One company that has seen this as fundamental to its business strategy already for many years, is Coca-Cola HBC. In this sense, the collaboration between the Circular Economy Alliance as a leading innovator in the Circular Economy domain and Coca- Cola HBC as the world’s most sustainable beverage company in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index follows naturally[1]. The two purpose-driven companies have recently signed an agreement of cooperation aiming to develop a long-standing collaboration in the domain of Circular Economy.

Such collaboration with the industry leaders will contribute to raising the awareness of the stakeholders of CCH on the Circular Economy domain. At the same time, CEA will ensure exposure to cutting-edge research and education on the Circular Economy, as well as upskilling and reskilling instruments that would equip the stakeholders with the required skills and competence to manage the upcoming transition and enhance their competitive edge. This partnership is committed to enhancing the opportunities of people and communities by supporting Coca-Cola HBC’s flagship program #YouthEmpowered, which forms part of its Mission 2025. The program targets vulnerable populations, educationally underserved, and those aspiring for better employment by helping with the transition from school to meaningful employment and helping them adapt to reshaping work environments.

¹https://www.coca-colahellenic.com/en/media/news/sustainability_news/2021/coca-cola-hbc-ranked-global-first-beverage-company-in-sustainability

#YouthEmpowered offers training to help young people develop business acumen and lifeskills. Additionally, CCH offers mentoring sessions with its senior managers. As a result, program participants are also able to build professional and personal networks.

CEA seeks to build on the momentum of the program and provide CCH up to five (5) chapters of the proprietary Circular Economy Body of Knowledge to be used as part of the (online) curriculum for #YouthEmpowered. This can render the collaboration between CEA, ENPC, and CCH as a transformational partnership capable of having a positive social impact and driving structural and cultural changes in the communities.

The most common building materials today are cement, steel, aluminum, and plastic. The production of each of these materials poses their own benefits and problems. Common for all of them is that they are a critical source of greenhouse gas emissions at the moment.

The good news is that most construction materials are highly recyclable. Cement from a demolished building can be recycled to make new cement constructions. Steel and other metals can be melted down and reforged into new metal constructions. The same goes for plastics. The problem is that it requires a lot of energy to recycle these materials. So even though building materials are recycled they still have an extensive environmental footprint.

The main problem today is that buildings are often demolished without value recovery leading to construction waste. Over a third of the EU’s total waste production comes from the building sector.

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