AMSTELVEEN, The Netherlands – Lavazza and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines have signed an agreement which will make the coffee company the first Italian partner in KLM’s Corporate BioFuel Programme. The programme contributes actively to making the airline industry more sustainable by stimulating the availability of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) on a large scale. SAF has the potential to reduce carbon emissions by up to 85% compared to fossil fuels.
The cooperation between KLM and Lavazza fits perfectly with KLM’s Fly Responsibly initiative as KLM takes the lead in achieving a more sustainable future for civil aviation. The airline is doing this by making its products and processes even more sustainable, now and in the future. But real progress will only be possible if the entire industry works together. As part of Fly Responsibly, KLM is inviting passengers to take part in its CO2ZERO compensation programme, and asking companies to make their business trips more sustainable by participating in the Corporate BioFuel Programme.
Barry ter Voert, SVP Europe at Air France KLM Group said:
“KLM believes that the production of sustainable aviation fuels on the medium and long term is important in achieving carbon reduction targets in the aviation sector. By partnering with companies such as Lavazza, we can achieve our aims much faster. KLM is not alone in its desire to make its operations more sustainable. Many companies in a variety of sectors think the same way. We are happy to enter into partnerships with companies to stimulate the availability of sustainable aviation fuel on a large scale as it makes the price more economically competitive with that of fossil kerosene. In this way, KLM aims to send a strong signal to all airlines to do more to promote sustainable aviation and greatly reduce our joint environmental footprint”.
Sustainability objectives Lavazza
Lavazza is the first Italian company to support KLM’s Corporate BioFuel Programme. The multinational has decided to marry a concrete collaboration with the major organizations that aim to make a system towards sustainability objectives, by signing the United Nations 2030 Agenda and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and joining the United Nations Global Compact.
Mario Cerutti, Chief Institutional Relations & Sustainability Officer at Lavazza declared:
“For Lavazza, the goal is to implement sustainability along the entire value chain and this agreement fits perfectly into the responsible development path that we have been pursuing for some time. Participating in the KLM BioFuel Programme shows that today it is not enough to act alone, but an organic effort is needed between all the players on the market, in a transversal way with respect to the sectors: it is up to the leading companies to take the first step”.
About KLM and sustainable aviation fuel
KLM has been using SAF to an extent since 2011 and is currently the only European airline using sustainable fuel on intercontinental flights.
In May of last year, KLM committed to developing and purchasing 75,000 tonnes of sustainable kerosene per year for a period of ten years. This makes it the world’s first airline to invest in SAF on a large scale. World market leader in SAF, SkyNRG, wants to build Europe’s first sustainable kerosene plant for this purpose in Delfzijl, the Netherlands.
KLM only sources sustainable aviation fuels based on waste and residue feedstocks that significantly reduce the CO2 footprint and do not have a negative impact on food production or the environment.
Air France-KLM number 1 in Dow Jones Sustainability Index
In September 2019 it was announced that Air France-KLM was ranked at the top of the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) in the Airlines category. KLM is proud of this first position. It is a clear sign that KLM is investing successfully in making KLM and the airline industry more sustainable – socially, environmentally, and economically.
