Volvic Unveils Sustainability Efforts Ahead of World Environment Day

PARIS, FRANCE– Volvic has always valued the strength it receives from nature that’s why ahead of World Environment Day, and as part of its long-term sustainability efforts****, Volvic is announcing today its newly awarded B Corp™ Certification and global carbon neutrality certification from Carbon Trust. As part of reaching its carbon neutral milestone, in partnership with the climate solutions company South Pole, Volvic is supporting projects that protect two billion square meters of natural ecosystems in volcanic countries. These projects play a vital role in Volvic’s achievement of carbon neutral certification from the Carbon Trust.

Many people around the globe did not realize how much strength they gained from nature, and during their time indoors they came to realize and appreciate its benefits. In a recent survey conducted by Google, over half of the respondents have a newfound appreciation for the strength nature provides ***. As a brand that knows and appreciates the strength of nature and believes that hydration has a vital role in everyone’s lives and well-being, Volvic is taking significant steps to become a force for good in the category.

“At Volvic, we have long understood the value of nature’s strength and are encouraging all to return the favor, give back to nature and keep it strong,” states Rita Pestana, Global VP of Volvic. “We are on a journey to continue to use this business as a force for good and support our communities and the health of people and planet.”

In addition, Volvic will be hosting an Instagram Live event on World Environment Day, on Friday, June 5th in Volvic’s natural reserve. The event, hosted by two biodiversity experts, aims to promote awareness of the vital role biodiversity plays in various ecosystems around the world and specifically in Volvic’s volcanic natural ecosystem. This live event will be held in French on the @volvic.fr channel, at 12 noon CEST. This event contributes to the global celebrations spearheaded by the United Nations Environment Programme and is aimed at advancing the goals of the UN’s Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.

As part of its long-term sustainability efforts, Volvic is announcing today its commitments to preserve the strength and balance of our planet, so that nature to continue to thrive:

  • Being B CorpCertified: Volvic is committed to continue using its business as a force for good, joining a movement of companies that balance impact with profit, and contribute to a more ethical economy. Volvic is the biggest natural spring water brand with a B Corp™ Certification in Europe*. The brand is joining more than 3,000 Certified B Corporations® around the world that are committed to using business as a force for good. Certified B Corporations® are businesses that meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose. As part of this community Volvic is committed to continuously challenging themselves and improve their environmental and social practices to make sure they are relevant and following the highest standards.
  • Being certified Carbon Neutral from April 2020 by the Carbon Trust: For Volvic this means lifecycle carbon footprints of its products have been transparently calculated and certified and a carbon reduction plan is in place to ensure Volvic’s emissions will be reduced. Any remaining emissions have been offset through investment in initiatives that protect and/or restore natural ecosystems. To qualify as an offset against Volvic’s emissions, these initiatives reduce or absorb an equivalent amount of carbon. To reduce their own carbon footprint Volvic has been continuously increasing the proportion of recycled materials in the bottles (in 2020 on average up to 30%), switching to 100% renewable energy at the plain water bottling site in 2020, and promoting the use of low impact transport. Today 40% of their bottles travel by train in Europe, with a carbon footprint ten times lower than trucks in France. In parallel, Volvic is helping reduce global carbon emissions by investing in natural ecosystems protection projects with our partner and project developer South Pole. This way Volvic contributes to protecting forests, watersheds, biodiversity and local communities in more than two billion square meters, in volcanic countries such as Peru, Congo and Uganda.***** These projects help to absorb carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and offset Volvic’s remaining carbon emissions to achieve carbon neutrality.
  • Rethinking Packaging: At Volvic, we are committed to start using as much as possible 100% recycled plastic for our bottles and aim at producing all Volvic bottles using 100% recycled PET by the end of 2025 knowing it saves up to 50% of carbon emissions versus a virgin plastic bottle. This year we are going further with Germany and Switzerland by going full rPET in 2020, and small formats in France.

“At Volvic, we have been committed to continuously evolving, making nature and people stronger by ensuring that our source remains protected,” Rita Pestana said, “we will be constantly looking forward to use our brand as a force for good.”

**excluding cap and label

About Volvic 

Volvic is a unique natural spring water born in a volcanic natural ecosystem in the Auvergne region of France. 13,500 years ago, a volcanic eruption created an immense natural filter where water flows through six layers of volcanic rock; this creates a one of a kind filtration system that only nature can provide and that is how Volvic comes to life. The activist water brand has been fighting to preserve these ecosystems for years in an effort to restore balance to allow nature to continue to give us its strength and guarantee the purity of the water. As a part of Danone, Volvic has committed to inspire healthier and more sustainable eating and drinking practices and is doing so through several environmentally focused efforts. To learn more about Volvic, please visit their website.

Volvic carbon neutrality certification

Volvic has been certified carbon neutral to the internationally-recognized standard PAS 2060 by the Carbon Trust, a global climate change and sustainability consultancy with almost two decades of experience in the sustainability sector. Achievement of this standard reflects the commitment and measures taken by Volvic to reduce direct carbon emissions arising from its own operations (Scope 1 and 2), indirect emissions from the value chain, and where residual emissions exist Volvic has compensated for these through good quality offsets achieved through its partnership with South Pole.

From now on, Volvic must be recertified every year to maintain its carbon neutral status. This requires the development and implementation of a yearly carbon reduction and management plan. Each year the certification process becomes more challenging as Volvic must begin to rely less on the compensation (the investment in funds which generate carbon credits) and more on a low carbon business model. The carbon emission reduction figures are based on the global life cycle assessment of the product.

*B CorpCertification:  

Volvic is the biggest natural mineral water brand (revenue based) to receive this distinction. In the US, Volvic is a natural spring water.

B Lab® is a nonprofit that serves a global movement of people using business as a force for good. B Lab’s® initiatives include B Corp™ Certification, administration of the B Impact Management programs and software, and advocacy for governance structures like the benefit corporation.

Certified B Corporations® are new kinds of businesses that balance purpose and profit. They are legally required to consider the impact of their decisions on their workers, customers, suppliers, community, and the environment.

Certified B Corporations® achieve a minimum verified score on the B Impact Assessment—a rigorous assessment of a company’s impact on its workers, customers, community, and environment—and make their B Impact Report transparent on bcorporation.net. Certified B Corporations® also amend their legal governing documents to require their board of directors to balance profit and purpose. Companies must recertify every three years.

In 2020 Volvic achieved the certification with a score of 81.1., being part of the less than 4% of companies that have engaged with B Impact Assessment online and achieve the score required. The B Corp assessment certifies 5 pillars: Governance, Workers, Community Environment and Customers. B Lab® has highlighted the company’s leadership in 3 mains areas:

 

  • The culture of Health & Safety
  • The efforts reducing energy, water and material usage in operations
  • Defining social and environmental goals at all levels. This builds a culture of ownership for the company impact.

 

While Volvic scored highest in governance practices and legal mission including societal and environmental impact on stakeholders in the decision making; employee benefits such as pension and healthcare plans; and the environmental policy and management, including rigorous monitoring and target, also identify the following areas of improvement: regular performance reviews for all employees and further engage with our suppliers on social and environmental aspects.

About South Pole

South Pole is a leading project developer and provider of global climate action solutions, with over 300 experts in 18 global offices. South Pole helps companies, capital markets, and the public sector reduce their impact on the climate while mitigating risk and creating value. South Pole is a science-based company and its expertise covers project finance, data collection, and climate risk analysis, as well as the development of environmental commodities, such as carbon and renewable energy credits. South Pole has mobilized climate finance to over 700 projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions in areas such as renewable energy, energy efficiency and sustainable land use. For more information, visit www.southpole.com or follow them on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.