Annual report and accounts 2023 - Flipbook - Page 44
A.G. BARR p.l.c. Annual Report and Accounts 2023
Responsibility report continued
We respect the environment continued
Our ambitious commitments are being delivered
through our No Time To Waste environmental
sustainability programme, which brings together
net-zero, plastic and packaging, waste, water and
sustainable sourcing workstreams. No Time To Waste is
a hugely important programme for the Group and to
date our Barr Soft Drinks and FUNKIN business units
have worked closely and collaboratively. The intention is
to bring both Boost and MOMA into the fold in the
coming 12 months to ensure that we work together to
increase our overall sustainability and reduce our
environmental impact. Further information is available on
pages 44 to 53 within our TCFD disclosures.
Packaging
We believe that packaging should be treated by all
as a valuable resource and recycled, not discarded as
litter.100% of our Barr Soft Drinks packaging is already
recyclable, with clear on-pack recycling messages,
and we continually seek to reduce the amount of
packaging we use.
As part of our No Time To Waste environmental
sustainability programme, our plastic and packaging
workstream has established a clear strategy with
a long-term goal of 100% circular packaging. This
means a future where packaging is reduced, recycled
and reused.
In focus
Science-based targets explained
In 2015, 196 governments signed the Paris Agreement, which aims to keep average
temperature increase to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels. More explicitly, the
agreement sets out to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5°C.
The Science Based Target Initiative (SBTi) enables companies to demonstrate their leadership
on climate action by publicly committing to science-based greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction
targets. Science-based targets provide clearly defined pathways for companies to reduce
GHG emissions. Targets are considered science-based if they are in line with what the latest
climate science deems necessary to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement.
SBTi requires companies to focus initially on emissions from their direct GHG emissions
(Scope 1), their indirect emissions, including the consumption of purchased electricity
(Scope 2) and then on their wider indirect (Scope 3) emissions.
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Reducing the footprint of our packaging will be a
critical part of our journey to reach net-zero. We are
proud to have made a significant step forward in this
regard with the introduction of our first 100% recycled
plastic bottles. All our IRN-BRU and Rubicon 500ml
plastic bottles moved to 100% rPET in April 2022,
supported by a high profile advertising campaign
to raise consumer awareness and understanding.
Our longer term goal of having our full portfolio in
100% rPET by 2023 has been impacted by the current
lack of availability of appropriate quality food grade
recycled plastic. Demand is exceeding supply across
the food and drink industry, in the UK and beyond. We
remain committed to our goal, however realistically the
date by which this can be achieved is now expected to
be the calendar year 2025 and we have adjusted our
long-term target accordingly.
We remain committed to creating a truly circular
system for drinks containers with the expectation that
Scotland’s deposit return scheme (DRS), due to be
implemented in August 2023, will play an important
role in improving the availability and quality of high
grade recyclates. As a large producer member of the
DRS scheme administrator, Circularity Scotland Limited
(CSL), we will benefit from first right of refusal for our
proportionate share of the scheme’s collected material.
The recycled material available from a DRS system is
expected to be of a much higher quality than that
produced by current household recycling. As such we
anticipate that this will significantly improve our rPET
supply in particular and allow us to resume our path to
our 100% rPET goal.
We are fully committed
to achieving our
science-based targets.
