Nestlé tackles ‘ocean-polluter’ tag

GLOBAL FOOD and beverage giant Nestlé vowed Tuesday to address allegations by Greenpeace that it was polluting the world’s oceans with cheap plastic packaging for its Philippine products.

In a report released in Manila last week, the environmental group tagged the Philippines as the “third-worst polluter into the world’s oceans” after China and Indonesia.

It blamed this on the use by Western consumer giants, including Nestlé, of cheap disposable plastic to package everything from coffee and chips to shampoo and toothpaste.

These low-value and single-use sachets, aimed at poorer consumers, are not recyclable and usually end up in landfill or as litter or marine debris, according to Greenpeace.

“We welcome continued discussions with Greenpeace, including the sharing of any resource or existing research that Greenpeace may provide on more efficient packaging solutions,” said a Nestlé statement sent to AFP Tuesday.

It said it was working “with stakeholders to improve recycling and recovery rates” and encourage consumers to dispose of waste plastic properly.

Nestlé representatives met a Greenpeace campaigner on Friday to discuss its solid waste management.

However, a Greenpeace spokeswoman has told AFP the company’s solutions presented at the meeting were at odds with the movement’s campaign for a complete ban on single-use plastics in favor of refillable containers. — AFP