During a training session organised to mark this year’s World Consumer Rights Day (WCRD) on March 15, 2023, Nestle Nigeria emphasized its unwavering commitment to the environment and its vision of making it a better place for everyone. The beverage giant educated members of the Brand Journalists Association of Nigeria (BJAN) on how its activities are contributing to the sustainability of the environment.
The training, held under the theme “The Green Economy: Building a Cleaner Safer World for Consumers,” took place at Nestle’s Agbara plant in Ogun State.
Speaking at the event, Corporate Communications and Public Affairs Manager at Nestle, Victoria Uwadoka said, Nestle’s vision is hinged on four key targets; Climate activities, Sustainable packaging, Sustainable sourcing and Caring for the water.
She said that Nestle has been around for a long time and can only help to sustain the environment especially as it planned on remaining for more years to come.
“We want Nestle to be around for a very long time, to stay in the environment and continue in the environment, and that is why we are seriously in support of sustainability- to sustain us, sustain our children and our children’s children.
“We have taken serious commitment and are conscious about our commitment- what we are saying is we don’t want any of the waste, be it plastic, paper or any other material to end up in the landfill, waterways, gutters, rivers or the oceans- we want them to be managed sustainably,” Victoria said.
Also speaking at the event, Ibukun Ikpinmoye, Nestle Factory Manager, Agbara plant said, the company respects the environment it operates in, “because of that we feel the need to preserve it and keep it for future use”.
According to Kayode Adewale, Nestle’s Packaging Manager, one of the ways Nestle ensures the preservation of the environment is its plastic neutrality. He said the company remains committed to designing of plastic packaging for recycling and reusables and by reducing plastic use to paper because the ecosystem is a little more mature for the paper than the plastic which is why it changed the Milo and Nescafe Ready-to-drink (RTD) straw from plastic to paper.
In response to a question on Nestle’s plastic neutrality target, Victoria Uwadoka said the company has a minimum of 80% target by 2025, and already it has attained 45% mark.
“Our plastic neutrality target is to have a minimum of 80% by 2025, and for different types of plastic, we are at a different percentage. In Nigeria, we have a good ecosystem for recycling pet bottles then we have a higher percentage for flexibles, a much lower percentage than that, for multilayer plastics lower than that because these are the ecosystems that are relatively grown. Our challenge with it is, what do you do with it when you collect them? Who will use it after that?
“In the case of pet bottles for example, we have partners who are already transforming and using it for different things, on the average calculating all the plastics we are about 45%, with our target being 80% minimum by 2025.
“Nestle has a community of people and some of the initiatives we drive, we do not do it alone, we work with sister companies and also work with MAN to ensure that we are sharing safe standards. For example, we are working towards zero waste and working with organizations within our community so, we are actively involved with MAN, NECA among others.
“We are helping to create more awareness and to educate children and also have training for journalists and other people within the ecosystem. We are doing all of these because we know that, if you do not have any information, you do not stand any chance. When you are in Nestle you see that our mannerism will change but if you visit other companies you might see that we are all working together on the same journey,” Uwadoka noted.
The World Consumer Rights Day (WCRD) is a global event celebrated every March 15, with the aim to draw attention to the plights and rights of consumers.
The theme for this year is, “The Green Economy: Building a cleaner safer world for consumers”. The theme was adapted from the 2023 WCRD global theme, “Empowering Consumers through Clean Energy Transition,” to suit the Nigerian society.
BJAN Chairman, Clara Chinwe Okoro said the essence of partnering Nestle Nigeria in this year’s event is because of the beverage giant’s consistent commitment in the area of energy sustainability and sustainable growth and development for the environment amongst others.
