Beverage company CCU Argentina creates Reccupero program, a network with more than 20 packaging collection points in country; program works with municipalities, cooperatives and other large companies like Coca-Cola, Unilever to recover containers

June 19, 2025 (CE Noticias Financieras) –

In a context in which the environmental impact of various industries has become a central concern in the world, mass consumption companies are redoubling their efforts to reduce the environmental footprint of their products.

One of the main strategies that have gained ground in recent years is the recovery of containers and packaging to reincorporate them into the production system. This is the case of CCU Argentina, the beverage company with presence in multiple categories, which some years ago redesigned its sustainability strategy with a focus on the circular economy.

"Every day we put a large amount of bottles and containers on the market. So, one of our priorities was to take care of that," explained Juan Pablo Barrale , Corporate Affairs and Sustainability Manager of CCU Argentina, at Desarrollo Sustentable, an event organized by El Cronista and Apertura magazine last week.

The company produces beers such as Schneider, Imperial, Heineken and Miller at its plants in Salta, Santa Fe and Luján; also cider (such as 1888) in Buenos Aires and Río Negro, and operates wineries in Mendoza.

Circular economy

In this sense, he commented: "I believe that all the mass consumption companies at some point set out to start to understand what it would be like to take charge of our packaging. We have programs aimed at working with cooperatives and municipalities and other companies as well to try to recover as much packaging as possible from the industry and reinsert them into the production circuit".

The executive said that the company created the Reccupero program, a network with more than 20 active points in the country, in which it also works in alliance with municipalities, cooperatives and even other large companies in the industry such as Coca-Cola and Unilever to recover containers in different parts of the country.

In turn, Barrale pointed out: "The program allows us to recover waste from massive events where our brands are present. In many of them we have already achieved zero waste". The methodology includes working together with allied cooperatives that classify the material collected by type, market it and report the volumes.

The company's sustainability strategy is structured on two main pillars: people and planet. Within this framework, the executive explained that they recently redesigned this strategy under ten work agendas that range from responsible food supply to water balance. "Each area, from finance to sales, has specific KPIs and its performance and bonus depend on that," Barrale said.

One of the most important milestones for the company in recent years was the partnership with Aguas Danone . In 2022, the local subsidiary of Chile's CCU closed an agreement to take a minority stake in the Argentine subsidiary of Aguas Danone , a leader in the bottled water market with brands such as Villa del Sur , Levité, Villavicencio and Ser. As a result of this agreement, the company Aguas de Origen was created, from which these brands are produced and marketed.