Following Nestle’s global announcementof its roadmap to halve its emissions by 2030 and achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050, Nestlé Australia has confirmed its promise to accelerate commitments locally.
“Tackling climate change can’t wait, so neither will we. As a signatory of the UN ‘Business Ambition for 1.5°C’ pledge, Nestlé is one of the first companies to share its detailed, time-bound plan, and to do so ahead of schedule,” Sandra Martinez CEO of Nestlé Oceania said.
“We have all witnessed the impact of the climate crisis right on our doorstep. As Nestlé releases its climate roadmap today, I am proud to say that in Australia, Nestlé is ready to step up to the challenge and accelerate our work to improve our future on this critical front.”
Nestle Australia has started to make progress in a number of areas as it works towards net zero:
Prioritising renewable in manufacturing and operations
- In Australia, more than 60 per cent of the energy powering its Nescafé factory in regional Queensland comes from renewable bioenergy sources, including used coffee grounds leftover from making Nescafé.
- In the NSW mid north coast, more than 80 per cent of its Milo factory’s power comes from using sawdust waste from a local timber mill.
- The company is working towards renewable electricity within the next five years for all of its Australian sites – factories, offices, boutiques and distribution centres.
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Transforming our product portfolio
- Nestlé is increasing the number of ‘carbon neutral’ brands. For example, Nespresso, San Pellegrino and Perrier have already committed to carbon neutrality by 2022, and today, the Harvest Gourmet range of plant-based meat alternatives has made the same commitment.
- The company has introduced plant-based alternatives for existing products, such as Milo Plant Based and Nescafé Gold Plant-Based Latte.
- Further investment is also being made in plant-based products to limit its impact on the environment.
Evolving our packaging
- Transforming how it makes, uses and recycles packaging can play an important role in the journey to net zero. Nestlé continues to make progress on its efforts to make 100 per cent of its packaging reusable or recyclable by 2025, which will reduce its greenhouse gas emissions footprint.
Along with working with its packaging, the roadmap includes wanting to help increase end-of-life recycling rates to tackle packaging waste and reduce the amount of raw materials it uses. Nestlé and Australian recycler iQ Renew have commenced a trial which is seeing soft plastics collected through kerbside recycling and diverted from landfill.
With most post-consumer soft plastic going to landfill, the trial aims to find ways to collect household soft plastic and turn it into a resource. The trial has commenced with 2,000 households on the NSW Central Coast, with plans to extend it to around 140,000 homes.
Ms Martinez continued, “Together with our employees, customers, consumers, suppliers and stakeholders I look forward to not only embracing the challenge ahead and helping to deliver a better future.”