Nestlé began ramping up efforts to reach the company’s 2025 sustainable packaging goals. This includes investing millions of dollars in a fund that supports the transition from virgin plastics to food-grade recycled plastics in the US.
By 2025, Nestlé aims to make all of their packaging recyclable or reusable, and to reduce its use of virgin plastics by one-third. The Swiss food and beverage company recently put $30 million into Closed Loop Partners’ Closed Loop Leadership Fund. This investment marks the first time the company has used its packaging venture fund, which was established earlier this year — part of their broader $2.07 billion investment in sustainable packaging solutions, Nestlé said.
In addition, Nestlé is introducing a refillable system for pet food in Chile and recyclable paper packaging for Maggi bouillon cubes in France. The company says that 87% of their total packaging by weight — 66% of their total plastic packaging — is currently recyclable or reusable.
The company adopted a three-part approach to addressing plastic pollution in January 2019:
Developing new packaging. Examples include making their chocolate Smarties candies available in a recycled paper wrapper in the UK, using single-material pouches designed to increase recycling value for Gerber and Piltti baby food, introducing Nespresso capsules made with 80% recycled aluminum, and doubling the amount of rPET used in Nestlé’s US water business to 16.5% since last year.
Shaping a waste-free future. The company reported that Nestlé Philippines reached plastic neutrality in August, collecting and co-processing the same amount of plastic that’s contained in products sold. Nestlé is working with Project Stop on reducing ocean plastic pollution in Indonesia. A trial to collect, sort, and process soft plastics began in Australia. And Nestlé identified 20 countries accounting for half of the company’s plastic usage where they will support recycling rates and waste management infrastructure.
Driving new behavior. Nestlé says the company is launching a sustainable education and training for more than 290,000 employees, introducing a digital platform so consumers in Italy can dispose of their packaging waste appropriately, and launching a consumer education campaign to promote recycling in Germany and in Mexico through Nescafé Dolce Gusto. The company is also piloting refillable and reusable packaging options in Chile with the Algramo, in Switzerland with MIWA, and in France with Loop.
Later this month they plan to launch the Nestlé Creating Shared Value Prize with nonprofit Ashoka to award around $270,000 in grants for “system change innovations in areas such as alternative delivery systems and ground-up solutions to tackle plastic waste.”