Nestlé UK has on July 19 announced that one of the World’s largest confectionery plants has achieved zero waste. The Nestlé York site makes over a billion Kit Kats and 183 million Aero’s each year and achieved zero waste to landfill status nearly four years ahead of the company’s 2015 target.
The move to zero waste has achieved a yearly saving of nearly £ 120,000 via the removal of landfill tax, a 70% reduction in the number of skip lifts used and revenue generated by selling nearly 800 tonnes of recovered materials such as cardboard, plastics, metal, pallets and metalized film.
The achievement is a milestone within Nestlé’s sustainability programme which set a target for all 14 factories in the UK and Ireland to achieve zero total waste by 2015. Girvan on the West Coast of Scotland and Dalston in Cumbria became zero waste in 2010.
In September 2010, targets were set by the Nestlé UK & Ireland business to support its long term sustainability vision.
An interim report has been published providing an update on progress made. In addition to reducing waste, significant progress has been made in terms of a 36% reduction in absolute water usage and reductions made in packaging by reducing packaging used in Easter Eggs, Christmas selection boxes and catering Nescafé stick packs and sachets.
Paul Grimwood, Chairman & CEO Nestlé UK & Ireland, said, “Although there is still much to do in our sustainability journey, I am very proud of what our employees have achieved in such a short time. At Nestle, we are committed to manufacturing and doing business in a way that protects the planet and its resources for future generations and helps our local communities thrive. Making such progress in last few years in reducing the amount of waste our factories send to landfill, how much water we use and packaging we produce are significant steps.”
In addition to the publically stated targets later this year, Nestle will also embark on an ambitious ‘Lighthouse’ Project at its Fawdon factory. The Newcastle site will be used as a test bed and learning centre for exploring new ideas and technologies to accelerate Nestlé’s progress towards its sustainability vision. As well as focusing on achieving zero waste, the factory aims to reduce both its water consumption and CO2 emissions by 50% in the next two years. As a first step, a butterfly meadow has been planted at the site to promote biodiversity.
Paul Grimwood continued, “I am particularly excited about our project in Fawdon, which will demonstrate our holistic approach to environmental sustainability and will quite literally transform what we manufacture in the UK. This will act as a test bed for techniques, which we can then scale up and apply across our business to accelerate our sustainability journey even faster.”
Nestlé UK & Ireland first published its ‘Creating Shared Value’ Report in 2010. The targets cover: Nutrition, Health and Wellness, energy and emissions, water, waste, packaging, transport & distribution and sourcing. A formal follow up report will be published in 2012.
‘Creating Shared Value’ encompasses Nestlé’s global belief that in order to enhance and protect its business, it needs to go beyond compliance and sustainability in order to create new and greater value for its people, shareholders and society as a whole.
Source: Nestle.
