Nespresso pledges 100% carbon neutral coffee by 2022

17 Sep 2020 --- Nespresso has been carbon-neutral across its business operations since 2017 and now aims to achieve full carbon neutrality across its supply chain and product life cycle. The coffee processing company and an operating unit of the Nestlé Group, says that every cup of Nespresso coffee, both for at-home and for professional customers, will be carbon neutral by 2022.

This latest ambition is the latest move in a decade-long movement that has seen Nespresso reducing its carbon emissions.

“Climate change is a reality and our future depends on going further and faster on our sustainability commitments. That is why we are 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 that 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.

Nespresso will achieve carbon neutrality through several initiatives: the reduction of carbon emission; the planting of trees in and around coffee farms where Nespresso sources its coffee (insetting); and through support and investment in high-quality offsetting projects.

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 percent renewable energy in all Nespresso boutiques and increasing the use of biogas within the manufacturing process.

Also, expanded circularity of Nespresso products and packaging by increasing the use of recycled plastic within Nespresso machines, as well as of recycled and low carbon virgin aluminum within coffee capsules.

Planting trees in coffee farms and the surrounding landscapes 
Trees are the best way to capture carbon from the atmosphere while investing in nature and building a regenerative agricultural system. Planting trees provide 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 including Colombia, Guatemala, Ethiopia and Costa Rica.

Accelerating forest conservation and restoration
Nespresso will also invest in projects to support forest conservation and restoration as well as implement clean energy solutions within farming communities.

Click to EnlargeEvery cup of Nespresso coffee, both for at-home and for professional customers, will be carbon neutral by 2022.This carbon neutral commitment is part of a broader sustainability ambition that will be further communicated later this year: to preserve exceptional coffees, build a resilient and regenerative coffee agriculture system, drive sustainable livelihoods for farmers and build a circular business.

“Climate change is happening now, which means that we must all take responsibility and action, quickly,” says George Clooney, actor, and Nespresso global brand ambassador.

“It’s clear that Nespresso understands this urgency and is putting our planet and people front and center of the choices it makes,” he adds.

Earlier this year, Nespresso’s first organic coffee within its philanthropic Reviving Origins range hit the US market. Kahawa ya Congo is sourced from rain-rich volcanic soils along the shore of Lake Kivu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. 

This launch closely followed Nespresso unveiling Amaha awe Uganda, meaning “Hope of Uganda,” a new and seasonal coffee from the Rwenzori Mountains – another result of the company’s Reviving Origins program designed to preserve the future of some of the world’s rarest and most exquisite coffees. 

Edited by Gaynor Selby

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