We Clean Up – Coca-Cola employees take action

Around 40 employees from Coca-Cola Switzerland participated in the national Clean Up Day 2022, collecting carelessly discarded waste. Alongside participation in the Clean Up Day, combatting littering has likewise become a tradition – and a matter close to our heart.

This day is a success story. The idea of the Clean Up Day emerged in Estonia in 2008, with 50,000 people cleaning up the entire country in only five hours. This initiative inspired people around the world and Clean Up Day has in the meantime grown into a global mass movement. 

A commitment for a cleaner Switzerland

By getting involved with the national Clean Up Day in Switzerland, private individuals, associations and businesses are sending out a strong message in favour of a cleaner environment. On 16 and 17 September of this year, meadows, woods, parks and lakefronts throughout the country were cleaned up. More than 600 initiatives took place, with several tonnes of waste being picked up.

Employees of Coca-Cola in Switzerland also got involved. Over the years, participation in the Clean Up Day has turned into a cherished tradition and is a fixed event on the company’s calendar. This year around 40 employees were picking up litter in Brüttisellen and Vals. 

Waste in Switzerland

Switzerland is something of a trailblazer worldwide when it comes to recycling rates. In 2021, over 82% of all PET bottles and over 90% of all aluminium cans were recycled. Nonetheless, littering is also an issue for us, as IGSU Managing Director Nora Steimer explains. The Interest Group for a Clean Environment (IGSU) is committed to achieving a cleaner Switzerland without littering and coordinates the annual Clean Up Day. 

“Switzerland is of course very clean compared to other countries”, Nora Steimer comments. And yet even here some waste is carelessly discarded. Littering affects in particular widely used public spaces such as parks, public transport stops, the banks of watercourses as well as remote and thus anonymous areas such as the verges of country roads. 

“However, we have noticed a greater sensitivity towards the issue, with people’s awareness constantly growing”, Nora Steimer confidently remarks. The large and well-developed network of waste disposal and recycling facilities in this country is an asset, and for her it is clear that “Littering for us is not a question of options, but rather an attitude – almost everywhere, anyone who wants to can find somewhere to throw away their rubbish close by”. 

Sustainability in practice

Coca-Cola HBC Switzerland and its employees are not only committed to achieving a world without waste on the Clean Up Day, but also pursue an ambitious, long-term sustainability strategy all year round. If you are interested in finding out more, the 2021 Sustainability Report sets out the goals that the company has already achieved.