April 21, 2021
- evian joins the B Corp community, a global movement of established companies using the power of business to positively impact its community, customers, and environment
- evian is marking Earth Day with the launch of a dashboard* for everyone to track progress to becoming circular by 2025, echoing the transparency required for B Corp accreditation
- Environmental management systems, consumer behaviour change programmes and Entreprise à Mission status, were marked highly, but evian looks to continually improve across the board, with certification taking place every three years.
evian natural mineral water has today announced the achievement of B Corp. evian joins a growing movement of established companies using business profits and growth as a force for good, challenging the way business is done and meeting the highest standards across governance, employees, environment, community and customers.
By becoming B Corp accredited, evian is now part of a pioneering group of less than 4% of companies that have engaged with the B Impact Assessment online and achieved the score required to become B Corp. B Corp status also marks recognition for evian’s full transparency about its water and what it takes to bottle it. To mark this announcement, evian has launched a digital dashboard for consumers to track its progress towards becoming circular by 2025**, reaching a new brand milestone in committing to this level of transparency.
Commenting on evian’s new status, Shweta Harit, VP of Marketing at evian, said: “I am so pleased that evian is now part of the B Corp community and that we are now more committed than ever to transparency. As a brand, we know we must strive to keep doing more and going further for people and planet, so we are truly honoured to join a global movement of responsible organisations that want to accelerate progress on the shared challenges we face.
“At evian, being B Corp goes way beyond our sustainability credentials, it’s also about our commitment to working together as a group of companies to drive change and advance company standards to benefit people, communities and the planet. We’re also aware of the need for transparency, acting as a force for good that wants to be accountable, learn and improve constantly, which is why we have also launched our dashboard to help us achieve this.
Katie Hill, CEO at B Lab Europe, said: “We are delighted to welcome evian to the B Corp community. This global movement of nearly 4000 companies from over 70 countries and 150 sectors is helping to change the way business operates, and in so doing, they redefine the qualities of success in business. evian's commitment to circularity in its operations, and the transparency with which it will share this progress towards this goal, will inspire other companies to follow suit. Now more than ever, it is crucial for both companies and individuals to operate for the benefit of all and use business as a force for good."
evian’s accomplishment of B Corp status is a tangible proof point of the brand’s commitment to transparency, a concept closely linked to its new global campaign, Drink True, featuring the Drink Water 60-second film which is an ode to nature, depicting the truth of evian water - a celebration of purity*** and honesty.
evian has further underlined its commitment to transparency by going above and beyond B Corp standard and voluntarily sharing its BIA questionnaire, making it available publicly. Whilst evian is not obliged to disclose this information as an Entreprise à Mission, the move represents a commitment to bolster the brand’s transparency.
ENDS
NOTE TO EDITORS
To find out more visit the B Corp Directory here
* As part of evian’s circularity targets, the brand aims to make all of its bottles from 100% recycled plastic* (rPET), a journey which has already been kickstarted by the launch of two innovative bottle formats made of 100% rPET* in 2020.
** Dashboard available https://www.evian.com/en_int/sustainability-dashboard/
*** As all natural mineral waters evian’s B Corp status builds on a number of milestones reached following
evian’s 2018 commitment to becoming a circular brand by 2025, including the achievement of carbon neutrality status in spring 2020, which followed significant improvements at every stage of the product life cycle: from production to transportation and the use of renewable energy, offsetting the brand’s emissions.
As part of evian’s journey in becoming a B Corp, evian has implemented a number of initiatives to achieve this certification in this areas: Governance - Workers - Community - Environment - Customers.
With a score of 86.8, SAEME – Societe Anonyme des Eaux Minerales d'evian (excluding its subsidiaries) was marked highly on environmental management systems, consumer behaviour change programmes and Entreprise à Mission status, and will look to continually improve across the board, with certification taking place every three years. evian has further underlined its commitment to transparency by going above and beyond B Corp standard and voluntarily sharing its BIA questionnaire, making it available publicly. Whilst evian is not obliged to disclose this information as an Entreprise à Mission, the move represents a commitment to bolster the brand’s transparency.
evian best practices identified by B Lab:
Mission-driven: SAEME ensures that the principles of social and environmental performance of the company are integrated in decision-making in the workforce. (Formal onboarding and ongoing training program, and accountability mechanisms that contain specific social and/or environmental responsibility areas)
Volunteering program: Beyond SAEME’s corporate citizenship that entails charitable donations and policy advocacy work, the company also provides its employees with opportunities to give back to society: through events in which employees can volunteer to participate. When faced with the global pandemic, partnerships were created that allow employees to use 3 days per year to contribute their time and skills to different NGOs.
Health, Wellness & Safety: The well-being of its workforce is important to SAEME. This is demonstrated through several employee offerings that range from additional health insurance, employee assistance programs and onsite support mechanisms that include an doctor and ergonomist. WISE program (set of polices, practices, reporting and auditing mechanisms) is rolled out to all facilities.
About B Corporations®
Certified B Corporations® are leaders of a global movement of people using business as a force for good. They meet the highest standards of overall social and environmental performance, transparency and accountability and aspire to use the power of business to solve social and environmental problems. There are more than 3,700 Certified B Corporations® in over 150 industries and 70 countries with 1 unifying goal – to redefine success in business.There are nearly 4000 Certified B Corporations® in over 150 industries and 70 countries with 1 unifying goal – to redefine success in business.
About B Lab®
B Lab is transforming the global economy to benefit all people, communities, and the planet. A leader in economic systems change, our global network creates standards, policies, and tools for business, and we certify companies— known as B Corps—who are leading the way. To date, our community includes nearly 4,000 B Corps in over 70 countries and 150 industries, and over 100,000 companies manage their impact with the B Impact Assessment and the SDG Action Manager.
About evian®
evian® natural mineral water comes from the heart of the French Alps, a unique geological site in the world. For more than 15 years, it travels through the rocks, where it picks up minerals. The brand has been working for over 25 years to preserve natural surroundings of the source, in an effort to preserve evian® natural mineral water’s exceptional quality for generations to come. Natural and uniquely balanced, evian® natural mineral water is a healthy choice throughout the day.
evian®, a Danone brand, embraces the company’s One Planet. One Health vision that the health of the people and the health of the planet are interconnected and therefore seeks to protect and nourish both.
For more information on evian and the planet, please visit: https://www.evian.com/en_us/planet
evian circular brand by 2025
evian is committed to making all of its plastic bottles from 100% recycled plastic* by 2025, adopting a ‘circular approach’ to plastic usage, where plastic is kept within the economy and out of nature. With input from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, evian developed a roadmap in which evian will move from a linear model to a circular one, where all bottles will be made from recycled plastic without the need for any virgin plastics. This will enable plastic to evolve from potential waste to become a valuable resource. evian plans to achieve this through pioneering partnerships to redesign its packaging, accelerate recycling initiatives and remove plastic waste from nature.
In 2020 evian launched its first range of bottles made from 100% recycled plastic*. The innovation is currently available in France, Switzerland, Belgium, Germany and the UK. Following this, in January 2021, evian announced its first bottle to be made from 100% recycled plastic* in the US, designed by Virgil Abloh; Creative Advisor for Sustainable Innovation Design for evian. The launches marked key milestones for the brand as it continues to evolve the way it delivers evian in the most sustainable way possible and looks to become circular by 2025. All evian bottles are recyclable. Today, evian bottles contain an average of 43% rPET across the entire range.
evian carbon neutrality certification
evian has been certified carbon neutral to the internationally recognised 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 evian 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 evian has compensated for these through good quality offsets achieved through its partnership with the Livelihoods Carbon Fund.
From now on, evian 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 evian 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
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