This move follows an announcement last week that it will achieve zero waste in all of its 150 European factories by 2020.

The company is the first signatory to a voluntary scheme – the EU Framework for the Implementation and Enforcement of the Principles of Good Practice in the Food Supply Chain, a set of good practice principles which apply to trading relationships between retailers and suppliers.

A joint initiative, it has been launched by seven EU industry associations representing different interests in the food supply chain.

So far 82 manufacturers and retailers have indicated their intention to register but Nestlé is the first company that has formally registered to the framework.

According to Nestlé’s executive vice president and director of zone Europe Laurent Freixe, the framework marks an important step to build greater confidence in the fairness of the food supply chain.

Meanwhile Nestlé has posted its zero waste ambitions – its latest pledge in this area means that no factory waste across Europe will go to landfill or be incinerated without energy being recovered from the process.

Freixe said that the company already has over 25 factories in Europe that do not dispose of waste into the environment – these include all UK factories as well as sites in Switzerland.

“By relentlessly eliminating all sources of waste, or by recycling or recovering energy from unavoidable residues, I am convinced we can achieve the same for all our European operations,” he said.

The first factory to achieve zero waste was the company’s KitKat and Aero confectionery factory in York back in 2011.

Maxine Perella

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