Coca-Cola Europacific Partners partners with Berkley to convert CO2 into sugar

Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP), the Uxbridge-based Coca-Cola bottler, is teaming up with the University of California, Berkley (UCB) to create scalable processes of converting captured CO2 into sugar.

The firm is collaborating with the university through its innovation investment platform – CCEP Ventures. The partnership will support the foundational research of the Peidong Yang Research Group, which is focused on on-site, industrial-scale production of sugar from CO2.

The investment feeds into CCEP’s wider goal of reaching net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040, with future investments expected to help expand the scale of the innovative technology.

Craig Twyford, Head of CCEP Ventures, said: “At CCEP, we want to grow sustainably, producing beverages that people love while helping to build a better future for our business, communities and the planet.

“CCEP Ventures is helping us find solutions to industry challenges and provide funding to make these foundational technologies a reality. We’re excited to be involved in this project that could lead the industry in the development of transformational technology capable of converting CO₂ into more complex, usable goods.”

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The first step is to develop lab scale prototypes which could make the generation of raw and packaging materials more sustainable long-term. Once fully developed, these could reduce some of the largest CO2 producers in the supply chain and save on material, transportation and logistics costs.

Currently, approximately a quarter of CCEP’s overall carbon footprint comes from agricultural ingredients, including sugar.

Along with reducing emissions produced in the manufacture of sugar, the new technology could also reduce the amount of land needed to grow it, freeing up land to support ongoing population growth.

Longer-term aspirations for the technology would see it reducing the need for crude oil in the PET plastic manufacturing process, conserving resources and reducing costs.

Professor Peidong Yang of the Peidong Yang Group at the University of California, Berkeley, said: “Air to sugar conversion could significantly impact our ability to preserve the natural world.

“This is a bold scientific vision that would bring immediate environmental benefits, fundamentally transforming the production and distribution of goods across the world.

“We are pleased to be working with CCEP Ventures on research that could make a significant impact on our ability to create a more sustainable future.”

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