VEVEY, Switzerland — International food and beverage company Nestlé has announced plans to intensify its actions to make 100 per cent of its packaging recyclable or reusable by 2025 and to reduce its use of virgin plastics by one-third in the same period.  

The new initiatives include a US$30 million investment to increase food-grade recycled plastics in the US, a refillable system for pet food in Chile and first-of-its-kind recyclable paper packaging for Maggi bouillon cubes in France, the company said.  

The company says 87 per cent of its total packaging by weight, and 66 per cent of its total plastic packaging is already recyclable or reusable. It noted that while the Tetra Pak (made of paper, aluminum and plastic) and the tin packaging used are 100% designed for recycling, its pillow bag laminate packaging is not.  The cardboard and plastic used in its secondary packaging are 100% designed for recycling.   

Véronique Cremades-Mathis, global head of sustainable packaging at Nestlé, said, “We have made strides in our transformative journey towards a waste-free future, but we know that we have more work to do. As the world’s largest food and beverage company, we’re committed to putting our size and scale to work to tackle the packaging waste problem everywhere that we operate.” 

The company says it remains committed to sustainable packaging even in the face of COVID-19, and continues to play a leading role in helping solve the issue of plastic pollution through its three-pillar approach launched in January 2019 – developing new packaging, shaping a waste-free future, and driving new behaviour 

In the Caribbean, Nestlé says it has, since 2019, undertaken a raft measures to reduce its use of plastics and other packaging material. 

“To date, we have: 

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Eliminated the use of single-use plastics that cannot be recycled from our sites in Jamaica and Trinidad; 

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Eliminated the use of shrink-film from product cases sent to Pricesmart in Trinidad, decreasing plastic out of our factory by 2.6 metric tonnes per year; 

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Eliminated barcode stickers on our 200ml cases sent to Pricesmart Trinidad, transitioning to printed barcodes with water soluble ink instead, reducing packaging waste associated with post production of barcode stickers; 

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Transitioned from using 3 sheets to 2 sheets of cardboard in pallets at our Valsayn factory, reducing cardboard by a projected 11.2 metric tonnes per year; and 

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Reduced the thickness of shrink-film from 40 to 37μm on two factory lines, for a projected decrease of 2.9 metric tonnes annually.” 

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The company said it has plans to eliminate plastic straws from its products, and will take an active role in the development of well-functioning collection, sorting and recycling schemes in Jamaica and Trinidad.    

As far as its operations in the two Caribbean  islands go, Nestlé reported that it has achieved zero waste to landfill in Jamaica, and is on track to achieving same in Trinidad by 2021.  

“This includes the implementation of internal recycling programmes for our employees,” the company has said. 

The company also counts its solar project in Jamaica as an achievement as it expected to ultimately offset up to 40 per cent of its load from the utility grid. The estimated indirect benefits from this will amount to a reduction of 1.290,000 kg of carbon emissions, the company said.