Confectionery business Nestlé will invest up to CHF 2 billion to switch from virgin plastics to food-grade recycled plastics for its product packaging as part of its plans to make all of its packaging recyclable or reusable by 2025.
Nestlé said it will cut the use of virgin plastics by one third as it works to cleans up plastic waste from oceans, lakes and rivers. Most plastics are difficult to recycle for food packaging so there’s a limited supply of food-grade recycled plastics.
The FMCG giant will source up to 2 million metric tons of food-grade recycled plastics and allocate more than CHF 1.5 billion to pay a premium for these materials between now and 2025. It will use new materials, have refill systems and recycling solutions.
Nestlé will also launch a CHF 250 million sustainable packaging venture fund which will invest in start-up companies who are involved in creating sustainable packaging.
“No plastic should end up in [landfills] or as litter. Making recycled plastics safe for food is an enormous challenge for our industry. That is why in addition to minimizing plastics use and collecting waste, we want to close the loop and make more plastics infinitely recyclable,” said Mark Schneider, CEO of Nestlé.
“We are pleased to see Nestlé commit a CHF 2 billion investment toward creating a circular economy for plastics, alongside a reduction of its use of virgin plastic in packaging by one third by 2025,” said Andrew Morlet, CEO, Ellen MacArthur Foundation.
