Source Reduction
The production of unwanted or unusable materials during manufacturing is inevitable. Nestlé’s first priority is to reduce the amount of such materials generated, and then to focus on recycling. By-products are defined as any materials which arise during the manufacture or distribution stage of a product and which are destined for off site reuse or recovery, i.e. recycling or incineration with energy recovery.
Waste is defined as any materials which arise during the manufacture or distribution stage of a product that is destined for final disposal to approved off site landfill or incineration without heat recovery. Reduction programs and efficiency studies are in place to continuously reduce by-products and waste despite increasing production volumes.
Despite a significant production growth, the quantiy of by-products generated from our manufacturing operations were reduced by 11% in 2007 versus the previous year. These were recovered for further use, either as material for recycling, animal feed, compost or energy source (eg - spent coffee grounds). During the same period, the quantity of waste decreased slightly. It was disposed of in an environmentally sound way. Waste eco-efficiency has increased by 58% since 1998. See Environmental Perfomance Indicators for further information.
Recycling
Nestlé uses many recycling options in order to minimize the volume of waste materials going to approved landfill sites. By-products are increasingly transformed into valuable raw materials, or composted or used for fuel in energy recovery processes. As a result, by-products/waste recovery rate at Nestlé is above 74%.
To achieve such high rates of recycling, material separation and collection has been implemented in Nestlé plants. Besides, external recycling facilities must be available. Communication and education programs about recycling are nt only run internally, but also in local communities.
Read more in our Coffee Grounds case study.