What progress has Nestlé made on packaging sustainability by 2025?
Nestlé publicly reports a number of indicators to track progress across its packaging sustainability strategy. Because packaging circularity depends on both packaging design and the systems that collect, sort and recycle materials after use, no single metric provides a complete picture of progress.
As of the end of 2025:
- 89.5% of Nestlé packaging met reusable, recyclable or compostable criteria.
- 87.5% of Nestlé plastic packaging was designed for recycling.
- Virgin plastic use in packaging had been reduced by 28.0% compared with the 2018 baseline.
- Renewable or recycled content represented 56.2% of all packaging.
- Recycled content represented 20.6% of plastic packaging globally.
- Total plastic packaging use was 0.86 million metric tonnes, compared with 1.7 million tonnes in 2018.
Progress has been achieved through a combination of packaging redesign, increasing the use of recycled materials, removing unnecessary packaging, testing reuse and refill solutions, and supporting collection, sorting and recycling initiatives.
Nestlé reports its progress annually in its Non-Financial Statement and to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation as a signatory to the Global Commitment 2030.
What are Nestlé's packaging sustainability commitments and how is the company progressing?
Nestlé's packaging sustainability strategy is built around three priorities: less packaging, better packaging and better systems. Our packaging commitments have evolved over time, building on the framework established under the Ellen MacArthur Foundation's Global Commitment and focusing on reducing virgin plastic use. We will achieve that through a range of actions including increasing recycled content, developing alternative materials, exploring reuse and refill solutions, and supporting improvements in collection, sorting and recycling systems.
Between 2018 and 2025, Nestlé reduced its use of virgin plastic by 28% compared with the 2018 baseline, against an ambition of one-third reduction, and increased recycled content across its plastic packaging portfolio to 20.6%. This represents the strongest progress achieved since these ambitions were established and reflects the impact of our packaging redesign, innovation and transformation efforts.
Looking ahead, our ambition remains unchanged. By 2030, we aim to achieve a 12%-17% reduction in virgin plastic use compared with an adjusted 2018 baseline, reflecting our evolving business portfolio following the announced separation of Nestlé Waters and Premium Beverages.
Find out more about our plans on this target on The Nestlé Packaging Sustainability strategy (pdf, 12Mb).
What actions are Nestlé taking to improve packaging sustainability?
Nestlé strategy builds on what has worked, reflects what has been learned, and focuses on the areas where action can create the most impact.
- Continue efforts on Virgin Plastic Reduction (VPR): VPR remains central to Nestlé's packaging sustainability approach aiming to drive coordinated and focused company wide action. We will achieve this through a well-defined plan, including removing unnecessary plastic, lightweighting packaging, redesigning formats, increasing recycled or renewable content where appropriate, shifting to alternative materials when they provide a credible benefit, and scaling reuse or refill models where they can work in practice.
- Geographical focus: The strategy prioritizes initiatives in markets and packaging formats where action can make the biggest difference, taking into account infrastructure maturity, regulation, technical feasibility and consumer needs. Our Packaging Recovery and Recycling Plan with focus on parts of LATAM, Asia and Africa, aims to support strengthen the waste management infrastructure in countries which do not yet have well developed waste management systems.
- Collaborative approach to scale: Progress depends on working with suppliers, recyclers, policymakers and other partners to overcome key barriers, especially flexible plastics, waste management infrastructure, and reuse or refill models. Advocacy for well-designed regulation, including EPR, is critical to enable system change at scale.
The strategy also recognizes the practical realities of packaging circularity. It does not rely on one single solution or metric. Instead, it combines reduction, better design, recycled content, alternative materials, reuse and refill where appropriate, regulatory advocacy, and system-building initiatives in markets where waste management infrastructure needs to improve.
Compostable
A material is considered compostable (whether suitable for home or industrial composting) when, through microbial activity, its biodegradable components break down to form compost as well as naturally occurring gases and water under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions.
Virgin plastic
Plastic that has not been previously used or subjected to processing other than for its original production. It includes fossil and bio-based plastics.
Design for Recycling (D4R)
Refers to packaging materials and formats which are compliant with the Negative List and aligned with the Golden Design Rules in our Rules of Packaging Sustainability (pdf, 605Kb).
Recyclable
As defined in the Ellen McArthur Foundation reporting guideline definitions, a packaging or packaging component is recyclable if it is successfully post-consumer collected, sorted and recycled with a recycling rate of 30% in multiple regions, collectively representing more than 400 million inhabitants.
