Kuala Lumpur, 24 August 2020 – Nestlé (Malaysia) Bhd is aiming to achieve 100 percent recyclable or reusable packaging for all its products by 2025.
Nestlé Malaysia chief executive officer Juan Aranols said this would be attained through three core strategies: eliminating non-recyclable plastics; encouraging the use of plastic that allow better recycling rates; and eliminating or changing complex combinations of packaging materials.
“At Nestlé, we have been accelerating our various initiatives to tackle plastic waste. We are transitioning our entire ultra high temperature (UHT) range to paper straws by end-2020 which will save well over 200 million plastic straws a year.
“We are making our product packaging sustainable and to date, 90 per cent of all our products are designed to be recyclable,” Aranols told reporters after Nestlé Malaysia signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) today.
The MoU entails the launch of a pioneering recycling programme involving kerbside collection for two townships in Petaling Jaya namely Bandar Sri Damansara and Ara Damansara.
Aranols said the initiative was in line with Nestlé’s efforts to shape a waste-free future and is aimed at encouraging good recycling habits amongst local communities in Malaysia.
He said Nestlé Malaysia had also launched a recycling collection programme in People’s Housing Project (PPR) Lembah Subang 1 in Taman Putra Damai in partnership with waste separation and recycling solution provider, iCycle Malaysia.
“These partnerships with MBPJ and iCycle are expected to benefit over 13,000 households, and we hope to expand to more communities within and outside Petaling Jaya moving forward.
“We are also pleased to unveil our new on-label communication, which features recycling education on-pack, to communicate to consumers how to properly recycle Nestlé products. This will be carried on 80 per cent of our entire product range by end-2020,” he said.
Petaling Jaya mayor Datuk Mohd Sayuthi Bakar said as a step towards achieving a cleaner and more sustainable environment, this recycling programme is an excellent example of the private and public sectors coming together to keep the environment healthy, safe and clean.
During the launch, guests had the opportunity to tour exhibition booths showcasing township visualisations for the kerbside collection programme, as well as Nestlé’s other key sustainability initiative on tackling plastic waste.
This includes Nestlé recent announcement to implement 100 per cent paper straws across its entire UHT range by end of 2020, which will eliminate over 200 million paper straws per year, as well as CAREton Project, a partnership between Nestlé Milo UHT and Tetra Pak (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd to recycle 45 million drink packs in 2020.
As to date, the project has collected over 95 million drink packs.
-New Straits Times
