MONTREAL — Nespresso has committed that every cup of Nespresso coffee, both for at-home and professional customers, will be carbon neutral by 2022. This new ambition builds on more than 10 years of work during which Nespresso has reduced its carbon emissions and compensated the remainder through agroforestry.
“Climate change is a reality and our future depends on going further and faster on our sustainability commitments. That’s why we’re accelerating our commitments to offer our consumers a way to drink a carbon-neutral cup of coffee by 2022 — a coffee, made from the finest and rarest beans, sustainably sourced. I truly believe both our business and the coffee industry can be a force for good in the world by tackling this pressing issue,” says Guillaume Le Cunff, CEO of Nespresso.
Last week’s announcement “also echoes a series of initiatives that have been put forward in Canada since the brand’s arrival in the country in 2009,” says Alfonso Troisi, president of Nespresso Canada. “These include the key role the company plays in the reduction of residual materials across the country with its capsule-recycling program. Our most recent recycling solution, the Green Bag Solution, is hugely successful in nearly 500 municipalities and we have every intention of expanding it across the country.”
Having already achieved carbon neutrality in its business operations (scopes one and two) since 2017, the company’s new commitment will tackle emissions that occur in its supply chain and product life cycle (scope three).
Nespresso will achieve carbon neutrality through the following initiatives:
- Carbon emission reduction: A crucial element of Nespresso’s vision is to decarbonize its value chain. These immediate initiatives include:
• Sustainable energy usage within Nespresso’s operations: Driving towards 100-per-cent renewable energy in all Nespresso boutiques and increasing the use of biogas within the manufacturing process.
• Expanded circularity of Nespresso products and packaging: Increasing the use of recycled plastic within Nespresso machines, as well as of recycled and low-carbon virgin aluminium within coffee capsules - Planting trees in coffee farms and the surrounding landscapes (insetting): Trees are the best way to capture carbon from the atmosphere while investing in nature and building a regenerative agricultural system. Planting trees provides the shade needed to improve the quality and quantity of a coffee harvest. The roots also help protect against soil erosion and landslides and promote soil regeneration. With its partner Pur Projet, Nespresso will triple the capacity of planting trees (with insetting) in coffee-producing countries such as Colombia, Guatemala, Ethiopia and Costa Rica.
- Accelerate to make an immediate positive impact (offsetting initiatives): Nespresso will also invest in projects to support forest conservation and restoration as well as implement clean-energy solutions within farming communities.
