To work towards its vision of a waste-free future, Nestlé Nigeria takes necessary actions
to promote behavioral changes, and to build a circular ecosystem in waste management,
starting from the company’s employees and extending to the communities closest to its
operations and to a wider audience across Nigeria.
With a strong commitment to help protect, renew and restore the environment, the
company is implementing many initiatives promoting Environmental Sustainability.
In 2022, Nestlé Nigeria launched her employee plastics collection scheme which inspires
staff to protect the environment and combat plastic pollution by inculcating the habit of
sorting wastes at source and recycling for sustainable environmental management.
Through the scheme, employees return all plastic materials, not limited to the company’s
brands, and earn points culminating in exciting rewards and management recognitions.
Over the years, the company has partnered with the Lagos Business School
Sustainability Centre on the “Advancing Nutrition, Health and Environmental Awareness
through the Media” training which equips journalists to effectively communicate and
educate the Nigerian populace on global best practices and lifestyle choices that impact
everyday living and carry out fact-based reporting on nutrition, health, wellness, the
environment, climate change, and corporate sustainability practices.
Nestlé has also extended her education campaign to the younger generations through the
Sustainability Training for Kids which enables children imbibe a sustainability mindset
from an early age, thereby preparing them to become better stewards of the planet.
The training implemented in collaboration with the International Climate Change
Development Initiative (ICCDI), furnishes children with information on waste
management, introduces them to the conversion of waste to useful items, and
encourages them to adopt positive behavioral changes to enhance environmental
sustainability.
The children are also taught sorting of waste at source with the donation of
segregated bins to participating schools.
In Nigeria where we have a nascent waste collection system, poorly managed waste ends
up in waterways and clogs drainages, exacerbating the environmental hazards, including
flooding which we are increasingly experiencing due to the effects of climate change.
Data shows that Nigeria generates more than 32 million tons of waste per year with Lagos
alone producing about 10,000 metric tons of waste daily. Addressing the plastic waste
challenge requires behavior change from all and Nestlé believes that there is no better
place to start than from within.
Nestlé Nigeria is therefore collaborating internally and with external stakeholders to
address the waste challenge in line with the company’s global vision that none of its postconsumer packaging waste ends up in waterways or as litter in the environment.
The World Clean-Up Day commemorated annually in September, provides a platform for
Nestlé’s employees to help promote awareness on environmentally sound waste
management practices for a clean, safe and sustainable planet.
Every year, volunteers under Nestlé Cares, the company’s global employee volunteering initiative, collaborate with the Africa Clean-Up Initiative (ACI), an NGO passionate about raising environmentally responsible citizens, for clean-up, sensitization and advocacy on Environmental
Sustainability.
This year, over 400 Nestlé employees joined the campaign by visiting twelve markets
across the country. The clean-up exercise executed in Lagos, Kano, Port Harcourt,
Sagamu, Ibadan, Jos, Abuja, Awka, Ota, Agbara, Enugu and Abaji, was powered by
MAGGI, one of Nestlé’s leading brands.
Nestlé Nigeria’s Corporate Communications and Public Affairs Manager, Victoria
Uwadoka, said, “At Nestlé, we are taking concrete actions to protect, renew and restore
the environment every day. We are conscious that indiscriminate waste disposal coupled
with limited recovery services aggravate the waste crisis. We also recognize that creating
awareness through advocacy is necessary on our journey towards a waste free future.
Our priorities therefore, include improving post consumption plastic waste management
by motivating behavioral changes and creating an efficient recovery system in
collaboration with other industry and community stakeholders. We are also accelerating
sustainability education through our employees, the media, our communities and children
in our Nestlé for healthier Kids beneficiary schools. The market clean-up exercises are one
of the ways we have sustained our efforts of improving our environment over the past 5
years.”
According to Dr Alexander Akhigbe, Founder/CEO African Clean-Up Initiative,
“Participating in clean-up exercises is a great way to get involved and make a difference
in keeping our environment clean and healthy for everyone. At African Clean-Up Initiative,
we are passionate about raising environmentally responsible citizens and communities,
working for the highest good of the Planet. For this year’s exercise, we ensured the proper
management of over 6,660kg of solid waste and 79kg of recyclables collected across all
the locations, so that they do not end up back in the environment. We are honored to be
working with Nestlé Nigeria as her implementing partners for this year’s event”.
Comrade Aremu Komolafe, member of the Ojuwoye market committee in Mushin, Lagos
State expressed his pleasure with volunteers from Nestlé Nigeria who joined the traders
and market leaders to clean up the popular market in South-West Nigeria. According to
him, with the significant amount of waste generated daily due to large number of visitors
and traders buying and selling, the burden of keeping the market clean is huge. To
mitigate the situation, every Thursdays is designated by the Lagos State government for
market clean-up and sensitization of shop and stall owners on the need for proper waste
disposal. He said that the cleanup initiative by Nestlé Nigeria will support these
environmental sanitation efforts.
Nestlé Nigeria is a leading member of the Food and Beverage Recycling Alliance (FBRA),
an Industry collaboration aimed at driving post consumption waste management and
recycling. Volunteers from the company also joined the FBRA led clean-up initiatives for
the World Clean-Up Day.
Through the Nestlé Cares platform, employees have the opportunity to give back to the
society, impacting individuals and families, communities and the environment, by
volunteering their time, resources and talents.
The company says it will continue to play her part to ensure a cleaner and healthier
environment across her operating locations, helping to create a more sustainable world.
