As the EU seeks to enhance Europe’s competitiveness through initiatives like the Omnibus package, the Clean Industrial Deal and the Competitiveness Compass, it continues to simultaneously work towards its sustainability ambitions. However, neither competitiveness nor sustainability are possible without increased efforts from governments, business and citizens across Europe to reduce environmental refuse in its many forms.

Alongside innovations in advanced manufacturing and chemical processes, many American companies are applying their research and development resources to a goal that predates even the Industrial Revolution: preserving the environment’s precious resources. They are demonstrating their commitment to the places they call home by decreasing waste from water, packaging and litter and keeping their local neighbourhoods cleaner for their staff, consumers, partners and neighbours:

CNH – France, Italy, Spain and the UK

Pollution is ubiquitous on beaches across Europe, and in 2022, a median of 481 plastic items were found per 100 m on the continent’s beaches. Led by CNH’s CASE Construction Equipment brand and CNH’s Sustainable Development Initiatives division, the Beach Care Project aims to engage the public to clean up beaches around Europe. The programme combines technology, community engagement and education by working with leading scientific institutions to research beach ecosystems, analyse collected waste and promote educational and environmental awareness initiatives.

Dupont – Denmark

Although water waste cuts across industries, brewing beer is a notoriously water-intensive process: some breweries use seven litres of water for every litre of beer produced, and up to 70% of that water becomes wastewater. To reduce water use at the Carlsberg Group’s brewery in Fredericia, Denmark, DuPont worked with partners to implement a state-of-the-art Total Water Management treatment plant. These groundbreaking technologies enabled the facility to reduce water consumption by 58.8%, cutting the water needed to brew a litre of beer from 3.4 litres to 1.3 litres.

MSD – Germany

Of the estimated 186.5 kg of packaging waste that each EU inhabitant generated in 2022, 41.1% was paper and cardboard. To combat that level of waste, in 2021, MSD Animal Health became the first manufacturing pharmaceutical company in Germany to implement a reusable packaging system and ship medicines and vaccines in sustainable, reusable boxes. Eliminating disposable boxes reduces the company’s CO2 footprint by more than 50% and saves more than 80% of water used, without any additional costs for customers.

Read more about AmCham EU members’ sustainability initiatives on Invested in Europe, our platform for stories of American companies’ positive impacts on communities across the continent.