Nestlé Nigeria, in a resounding demonstration of its commitment to environmental sustainability and a waste-free future, has undertaken a series of initiatives aimed at promoting behavioral change and developing a circular ecosystem in waste management.
These efforts extend from Nestlé’s employees to the communities surrounding its operations and reach a broader audience across Nigeria.
As part of its mission to protect, renew, and restore the environment, Nestlé Nigeria initiated several projects promoting environmental sustainability.
Notable among these initiatives is the company’s Employee Plastics Collection Scheme, launched in 2022, which encourages staff to play an active role in protecting the environment and combating plastic pollution.
Employees are encouraged to sort waste at the source and participate in recycling, thereby contributing to sustainable environmental management. The scheme rewards employees with points that can lead to exciting incentives and recognitions from management.
In collaboration with the Lagos Business School Sustainability Centre, Nestlé Nigeria also facilitated the “Advancing Nutrition, Health, and Environmental Awareness through the Media” training.
This program equips journalists with the knowledge and skills to effectively communicate global best practices and lifestyle choices impacting everyday living, alongside fact-based reporting on nutrition, health, wellness, the environment, climate change, and corporate sustainability practices.
Further, the company has extended its educational campaign to younger generations through the Sustainability Training for Kids, implemented in partnership with the International Climate Change Development Initiative (ICCDI).
This program instills a sustainability mindset in children from a young age, preparing them to become responsible stewards of the planet.
It focuses on waste management, introduces the concept of converting waste into useful items, and encourages positive behavioral changes to enhance environmental sustainability. Participating schools receive segregated bins to facilitate waste sorting at the source.
Nigeria faces significant challenges related to waste management, with inadequately managed waste often ending up in waterways and clogging drainage systems.
This situation exacerbates environmental hazards, including flooding, which is increasingly occurring due to the effects of climate change. Nestlé Nigeria recognizes the importance of behavioral change to address the plastic waste challenge and believes that the transformation should begin from within.
The World Clean-Up Day, commemorated annually in September, serves as a platform for Nestlé’s employees to promote awareness of environmentally sound waste management practices.
Through its global employee volunteering initiative, Nestlé Cares, the company’s volunteers collaborate with the African Clean-Up Initiative (ACI), a non-governmental organization dedicated to fostering environmentally responsible citizens.
Together, they engage in cleanup activities, awareness campaigns, and advocacy for environmental sustainability.
This year, more than 400 Nestlé employees actively participated in the campaign, visiting twelve markets across Nigeria, including Lagos, Kano, Port Harcourt, Sagamu, Ibadan, Jos, Abuja, Awka, Ota, Agbara, Enugu, and Abaji. The clean-up exercise was powered by MAGGI, one of Nestlé’s leading brands.
Victoria Uwadoka, Corporate Communications and Public Affairs Manager for Nestlé Nigeria, emphasized the company’s commitment to enhancing environmental sustainability.
She 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 Thursday 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 an active participant in the Food and Beverage Recycling Alliance (FBRA), a collaborative industry effort focused on promoting post-consumption waste management and recycling.
The company’s employees also participate in the FBRA-led clean-up initiatives for World Clean-Up Day.
Through its Nestlé Cares platform, employees have the opportunity to give back to society by volunteering their time, resources, and talents to impact individuals, families, communities, and the environment positively.
Nestlé Nigeria affirms its continued commitment to creating a cleaner and healthier environment across its operating locations, contributing to a more sustainable world.
