Striving for Zero: Nestlé Reinforces Efforts to Reduce Environmental Impact

In pursuit of achieving no environmental impact in its operations, Nestlé reaffirms #WeAreStillIn
Sep 26, 2018 5:05 PM ET

ARLINGTON, Va., September 26, 2018 /3BL Media/ - As global leaders from government, business, NGOs and the scientific community gather this week in New York to address the critical issue of climate change, Nestlé is reinforcing our ambition to strive for zero environmental impact in our operations while engaging in solution-driven dialogue.

Christian Frutiger, Head of Global Public Affairs, will participate in the Scaling Natural Climate Solutions workshop as part of the World Economic Forum’s Sustainable Development Impact Summit. He will lead a discussion group on embedding natural solutions for climate and biodiversity in sustainable supply chains. The outcome of the dialogue will support the work of the World Economic Forum’s Biodiversity Action Agenda, Climate Initiative and Tropical Forest Alliance 2020.

As a company, Nestlé remains committed to supporting action to meet the commitments set forth by the Paris Climate Agreement. Nestlé’s engagement this week at the Sustainable Development Impact Summit comes as part of our continued work to take real steps to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and accelerate our transition to a clean energy economy. Activities thus far in 2018 include:

Using satellite technology to battle deforestation.

Nestlé last week announced our accelerated plan towards reaching the company’s 2020 No Deforestation commitment by becoming the first global food company to implement Starling, a satellite-based service, to monitor 100 percent of our global palm oil supply chains. Starling was developed by Airbus and The Forest Trust (TFT) as a global verification system evidencing that no deforestation is taking place throughout the supply chain.

Doubling down on water stewardship.

After implementing the Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS) International standard in our water bottling and food manufacturing factories in California, Nestlé Waters announced that it will extend its commitment to water stewardship by certifying all of its sites to the AWS Standard by 2025. The global standard promotes responsible water use that benefits local communities socially and economically, while ensuring environmental sustainability of watersheds.

Continuing to reimagine our packaging.

Plastic waste is one of today’s most critical issues. It needs to be addressed urgently and we are committed to working collectively to find solutions. Nestlé announced in April our ambition to make 100 percent of our packaging recyclable or re-usable by 2025. Our vision is that none of our packaging, including plastics, ends up in landfill or as litter.

Driving toward 100% renewable energy.

This year, Nestlé announced a 15-year power purchase agreement with one of the world's largest wind energy producers that will provide about 80 percent of the electricity load for five facilities in southeastern Pennsylvania operated by Nestlé Purina PetCare, Nestlé USA and Nestlé Waters North America. Nestlé Waters North America, in partnership with the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) also announced agreements that will allow our facility in Sacramento, California to be powered by 100 percent renewable energy. Now, we are closer than ever to cutting our greenhouse gas emissions by 35 percent relative to 2010 levels and towards our ambition to procure 100 percent of our electricity from renewable sources.

Building coalitions for progress.

Nestlé and three other founding member companies in July formed the Sustainable Food Policy Alliance which, in part, advocates for science-based solutions to address climate change, build more resilient communities, promote renewable energy, and further develop the sustainable agriculture system.

More on Sustainability at Nestlé:

Acting on Climate Change

Safeguarding the Environment

Caring for Water