According to Nestle’s 2012 Creating Shared Value report, released today, the amount of waste for disposal decreased by 8.2% compared to 2011, partly due to improved recycling and recovery processes.

Since 2002, the company’s absolute waste quantity decreased by more than 20%, while the waste rate per tonne of product also decreased over this time period by almost 50%.

The company saved 47.1 kilotonnes of packaging material by the end of the year, while in 2011 it used 27% of recycled materials in its packaging.

One of the company’s factories, Tutbury factory in the UK, achieved a zero waste status by introducing waste segregation systems and by training employees and contractors in waste strategy.

According to the company, achieving zero waste has delivered water and energy savings, as well as more space and reduced transport costs at the factory.

In addition, Nestlé’s York factory is on target for zero waste for disposal thanks to the sites separating waste material for recycling initiative.

“We optimise the weight and volume of our packaging and, wherever commercially feasible, manufacture it using recycled materials,” the company said.

The report also highlights the company’s water use for the year. In 2012, Nestle withdrew 138 million m3 of water, or 2.9m3 per tonne of product, a 9% reduction compared to 2011.

“We’ve invested in a range of water saving initiatives throughout 2012 and also carried out 489 water saving projects in our factories, saving 6.5 million m3,” said the company.

Since 2002, Nestle has reduced water use by 29% and direct greenhouse gases by 24%, even though production volumes have increased by 53%.

“Our on site energy consumption for 2012 was 90.7 petajoules, equivalent to 1.9 gigajoules per tonne of product – a reduction of 4.7% compared to 2011” the report states.

“We completed 36 projects through our Energy Target Setting Initiative this year (investing a total of CHF82 million) saving approximately 173000 tonnes CO2 equivalent”.

Leigh Stringer

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