Nestlé releases sustainability info

Nestlé releases sustainability info

Nestlé Waters North America has released its 2010 Corporate Citizenship Report, which outlines the bottled water behemoth's endeavors to reduce the size of its bottles while increasing the amount of recycled PET it uses.

"As we look to the future, we anticipate that certain natural resources will be less abundant and more closed-loop processes will be needed. We believe that there will also be the need to explore and incorporate more alternative packaging materials, including recycled plastics and/or bio-plastics made from renewable materials, into our products," reads the report [1].

In response to this situation, Nestlé is working toward a more complete understanding of the full life-cycle impacts of its products and packaging that will be used to reduce the amount of plastic in its bottles, while also increasing its use of recycled PET. To this end, it is actively working toward a "closed-loop process" that is continuously fed by recycled materials. Nestlé is also developing a "next generation" of bottles made from 100 percent recycled or renewable material that it hopes to have ready by 2020.

Nestlé also outlined an ambitious goal of pushing the recycling rate for PET bottles in the U.S. to 60 percent by 2018. Additionally, the company hopes to recycle 85 percent of the bottles it produces in Canada.

"The expansion to rPET for bigger brands is contingent on finding ways to make rPET more cost neutral versus virgin. This means higher recycling rates, as well as lower process costs. Nestlé Waters will work to influence both of these outcomes, and add rPET to our business as it becomes economically feasible," reads the report.

Nestlé also mentions in the report that it is advocating for an extended-producer responsibility model that would require beverage producers to develop and fund effective recycling programs. The program would be similar to one launched in Manitoba last year that involved setting up curbside and commercial recycling programs, putting recycling bins in public places and public education campaign.

Additionally, the report mentions that the company is interested in working with state legislators to improve the effectiveness of existing bottle bills, and creating partnerships with non-profit organizations, such as Keep America Beautiful, to work on recycling initiatives.

Finally, Nestlé says it has made strides in light-weighting and using more recycled PET. For instance, it cites its re-source brand, which is now made from 50 percent rPET, up from 25 percent. It also points to its Eco-Shape half-liter bottle, which weighs 9.3 grams (about a third of an ounce), which is 60 percent less plastic than the company's original half-liter bottle.

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