The investment will be in areas such as automation and water treatment and follows a wider £300M investment over the past five years.
Invest significantly
Steve Adams, group director of supply chain operations at CCE GB, said: “At CCE we take our responsibilities in this area very seriously and we are constantly looking for new ways to progress and improve, which is why we have again pledged to invest significantly across our operations this year.”
The firm has also launched a new six-month industry research partnership with Cranfield University in a bid to improve operational efficiency throughout the food and drink supply chain.
The study – Sustainable Manufacturing for the Future – will investigate the current sustainability landscape across the supply chain.
This will include topics such as resource security, the circular economy, sustainable technologies and waste management. It will also look to the future, forming a vision of what a sustainable factory will look like in 2050.
CCE's investments
- £16.5M canning line at its Sidcup site
- £30M in automated warehouse at its Wakefield site
- £13M in a bottling line at its Wakefield site
- £2.2M in East Kilbride
- £4M in a Milton Keynes-based educational centre
- £5M in a recycling plant in Lincolnshire
Adams said: “We view the research project as a collaborative effort, and will look to involve our industry peers as we assess the findings from Cranfield, starting with the knowledge-sharing session held at our Milton Keynes facility,” he claimed.
Share expertise
Mark Jolly, professor of sustainable manufacturing at Cranfield University, said it was an exciting opportunity for Cranfield researchers to share their expertise in sustainable manufacturing processes, systems and business models in order to help CCE in its mission to achieve best-in-world manufacturing for the future.
“We hope that Cranfield’s cross-sector vision and experience as well as its extensive network of contacts will be invaluable for CCE in its vision for lower energy, reduced materials usage and lowest carbon dioxide footprint in its manufacturing plants,” he said.
“During this project CCE will support a number of masters’ research projects. Working with large companies such as CCE also gives our students an enhanced experience with real opportunities for development of their skills thus making them highly employable.”
Meanwhile, Cranfield University will publish the findings from its three-year project Step Change in Agri-food Logistics Ecosystems (SCALE) on April 16. Food and drink businesses from across Europe have worked on the project to develop new tools and frameworks to improve supply chain efficiency and sustainability.