With more than 30,000 employees across 31 states, Nestlé in the U.S. offers a 
wide portfolio of food and beverage products for people and their pets. Nestlé in the U.S. consists of six main businesses in the United States, including new NERC Advisory Member Nestlé USA.
Nestlé is committed to using its global reach and scale to have a positive impact—the company is reimaging all aspects of its business to help create a more sustainable future, from the ingredients it uses, to the packaging that keeps food safe, to how it makes and transports products.
For NERC’s community of solid waste management professionals, packaging is particularly top of mind. Nestlé is helping create a waste-free future by designing its packaging to be as sustainable as possible, and the company is constantly innovating to find ways to extend the use of packaging materials as a resource. As Nestlé works toward its ambition of making 100% of its packaging reusable or recyclable by 2025, the company is taking a multi-faceted approach, including:
- Designing innovative packaging;
- Helping improve the U.S. recycling infrastructure; and
- Partnering and advocating for a circular economy.
In a recent blog post, Nestlé’s National Recycling Manager John Caturano describes several initiatives that the company is involved in to help drive a circular economy, including:
- Nestlé’s $30 million investment in the Closed Loop Leadership Fund to help upgrade recycling infrastructure, bolster packaging materials collection, and secure access to food-grade recycled plastics.
- Working with The Recycling Partnership, an organization that helps communities gain access to quality recycling equipment and information, to help scale up the recycling infrastructure for recycling flexible plastic.
- Working closely with organizations and participating in innovative collaborations that are charting a path to a circular economy, including The Ellen MacArthur Foundation, the U.S. Plastics Pact, The Association of Plastic Recyclers and many others.
“Ultimately, you should feel comfortable buying products and knowing that you can recycle packaging without worrying about sending materials to landfill,” Caturano writes. “Our mission is to leave the world better than we found it. Closing the loop on packaging is a big part of doing just that.”
In addition to the above packaging sustainability efforts, Nestlé USA has achieved zero waste for disposal at all of its manufacturing facilities and distribution centers. All of its facilities across the U.S. will be using 100% renewable electricity within the next five years.
“We are looking forward to collaborating with NERC and its Advisory members to help progress grassroots solutions to global sustainability challenges, such as packaging and waste reduction,” said Stephanie Potter, Head of Sustainability, Corporate and Government Affairs, Nestlé USA. “Knowledge and resource sharing with like-minded partners and organizations is crucial to realizing the long-term, sustainable impact we are all working towards.”
NERC is excited to welcome such a major force as Nestlé USA to its group of Advisory Members. We look forward to working with the company to continue charting a path toward a more sustainable future.