The soft drinks industry is working with the government to develop a new roadmap for slashing the 7.8 million tonnes of greenhouse gas it produces every year.

Defra has renewed its calls to the industry to find ways to use natural resources more efficiently, which would result in less carbon emissions. A similar project with the dairy industry is already underway.

Defra is working with the British Soft Drinks Association, waste reduction agency Wrap and sustainability experts Best Foot Forward on the roadmap, which it hopes to turn into a new set of industry-wide commitments by the end of the year.

The parties will look to address ‘hotspots’ in the supply chain that are causing particular concern. “Businesses can save money and reduce their impact on the environment by cutting waste along the supply chain - from how products are made and packaged to how they are transported and sold,” said Defra minister Lord Taylor.

An initial Defra report has estimated that the soft drinks industry uses more than 40 million tonnes of material every year. The two areas it has identified as having the biggest environmental impact are fruit and PET bottles. Each accounts for nearly a third of the emissions generated by the soft drinks industry.

Meanwhile, Coca-Cola Enterprises this week officially opened a £15m plastic recycling facility in Hemswell, Lincolnshire, in partnership with ECO Plastics. The plant will enable CCE to halve the number of bottles it currently sends to China for recycling.

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