FDBusiness.com

Nestle marked another milestone in its commitment to environmental sustainability by achieving zero waste to landfill at its Kit Kat and Aero confectionery factory at York in the UK. In 2009, Nestle UK set an ambitious target to achieve zero total waste by 2015 for all of its 14 factories in the UK and Ireland.

This latest accomplishment is also in line with group strategy to reduce the environmental impact of Nestle’s 443 factories worldwide.

By achieving zero waste, the York factory – which makes over a billion of the Kit Kat chocolate wafer bars and 183 million Aero chocolate bars each year – has saved over SFr160,000 (nearly £120,000) a year. Such savings were made due to removing landfill tax costs and reducing the number of skip lifts used by 70%.

Nestle UK has also generated extra revenue by selling nearly 800 tonnes of leftover materials such as cardboard, plastics, metal, pallets and metallised film.

“At Nestle we are committed to manufacturing and doing business in a way that protects the planet and its resources for future generations and helps our local communities thrive,” says Paul Grimwood, chairman and chief executive of Nestle UK & Ireland. “Making such progress in reducing the amount of waste our factories send to landfill, how much water we use and packaging we produce are significant steps. I am very proud of what our employees have achieved in such a short time.”

The company’s Girvan factory in Scotland, which manufactures chocolate crumb, a key ingredient used in Nestle’s confectionery chocolate brands, and its Nescafe Cappuccino factory in Dalston in the UK, both achieved zero waste last year.

Nestle has also continued to lead initiatives and innovative projects to reduce waste and advance environmental sustainability across its operations around the world. For example, a total of 21 factories utilise unused coffee grounds as a renewable energy source.

One of the most recent sites to implement this practice is the Cagayan de Oro Nescafe factory in the Philippines which uses a state-of-the-art boiler to recycle and burn unused coffee grounds, sawdust and coconut shells. The factory also has a solid waste management programme and communal eco-garden which sells recyclable materials made from household waste and organic fertiliser made from biodegradable waste.

Further illustrating the company’s aim to reduce waste and cut down the amount of water it uses, around 70% of Nestle’s rurally located factories in developing countries have a built-in water treatment plant.