Nestle removes plastic waste from beach

Nestlé Anglo-Dutch Caribbean employees and their families removed over 12,000 pounds of waste in beach clean-up activities recently. This was the first of many planned initiatives between Nestlé Jamaica and Nestlé Trinidad and Tobago to commemorate World Oceans Day.

More than 150 Nestlé employees gathered at the Rae Town Fishing Village in Jamaica and at Matura Beach in Trinidad to remove plastic waste from the environment. This initiative is part of Nestlé’s broader vision to achieve a waste-free future.

Plastic waste is one of the world’s most pressing issues. Through clean-up activities and other initiatives, Nestlé aims to play an active role in changing behaviour and raising public awareness about reducing plastic waste and recycling more.

Nestlé extended gratitude and appreciation to the Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation, Mattino Logistics in Jamaica and Nature Seekers in Trinidad, for their support and collaboration in organising these initiatives. Together, 12,712 pounds of waste were removed, and sargassum seaweed was cleared to make way for the easy nesting of the leatherback turtles in Matura.

Lasting impact

Participating in the clean-up activities, Head of Corporate Communications Denise d’Abadie said, “We believe that small actions together can make a lasting impact, and it’s up to us to drive environmentally focused behaviour changes internally with our employees, as well as externally. We each have a role to play in stopping plastic pollution”.

To mark World Oceans Day on June 8, 6,300 Nestlé employees and their families participated in clean-up exercises in 70 locations around the world. In total, they removed 60 tons of waste from the environment, mostly from local water bodies.

Plastic pollution is a global challenge and Nestlé is committed to leading a lasting and impactful change. Nestlé’s efforts are based on three pillars:

To phase out all non-recyclable or hard-to-recycle plastics from its manufacturing operations and replace these with alternative materials that are recyclable/ biodegradable.

To achieve a waste-free future. Nestlé is involved in projects to prevent further accumulation of plastic in the environment.

To promote good behaviour. Nestlé acknowledges that behaviour change needs to start from within the company.

The Nestlé Jamaica Wealth and Wellness Foundation has communicated that under its volunteer programme, they will be visiting this location once per quarter to help reduce the waste and plastic pollution.