Packaging & supply chain
We’re committed to reducing the environmental impact of our packaging and distribution operations.
Product packaging
We are committed to reducing the weight of the packaging we use. We do this by using lightweighting materials, eliminating unnecessary packaging and looking for alternative materials that have less environmental impact or that are recyclable.
These initiatives are in place in most of our manufacturing sites.
Distribution
We aim to manufacture our products close to our sales markets whenever possible. Our objective is to minimise imports and exports, reducing the environmental impact and waste of energy involved in transporting goods.
Whenever possible, we also make significant use of combined road/rail transport, both for imports and for domestic distribution. For exporting to distant markets we prefer to use shipping rather than air freight, thus helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Supplier relationships
When we select suppliers we take into consideration their commitment to environmental and social responsibility.
We send all our suppliers a copy of our Code of Conduct, in particular to those from “Countries at risk”, asking them to comply with its provisions (for example, guaranteed basic rights for workers, equal treatment, prohibition of child labour).
Whenever possible we cooperate with our suppliers on joint environmental initiatives.
During 2013-14, in Italy we’ve reduced the weight of our plastic 150 ml chewing gum bottles by about 23%, from 26g to 20g. The bottles are made of PE polyethylene and are 100% recyclable.
We’ve also succeeded in reducing the weight of the recyclable polypropylene film wrapping for our chewing gum and candy packs. Its thickness has decreased from 30 to 25 µm, corresponding to a 16% total weight reduction (8 tons a year). The polyethylene content in the packaging has also been reduced, by 40% (equivalent to 55 tons a year).
In Turkey we pack approximately 100 million metal tins every year with products for the European, Asian and American markets.
Working in partnership with our tinplate supplier, we have been able to reduce the thickness of the metal sheet from 23 to 21 micron, leading to a 10% (170 tons) reduction in our annual metal consumption.