Nestlé, the world’s largest food and beverage company, has reduced its carbon dioxide emissions by more than 4 million tonnes in 2021 – equivalent to the annual consumption of 870,000 cars, a company release shows.

To achieve this, Nestlé is transforming every aspect of its business – from fuelling trucks with biogas from organic waste, to using 100% renewable electricity for factory production, to creating packaging solutions that reduce plastic and can be easily recycled.

The company is committed to making its packaging 100% recyclable or reusable and to reducing the use of new plastics by a third. This means using more recycled materials, creating more reusable packaging or eliminating packaging altogether by experimentally delivering products in bulk.

As a result of efforts in recent years, Nestlé has reduced its use of virgin plastic by 10.5% versus 2018 baseline, Smarties became the first global confectionery brand to switch to paper packaging, Nespresso uses 80% recycled aluminium in its capsules in Europe and a multitude of brands and packaging solutions in the Nestlé portfolio are 100% designed for recycling, from Maggi bouillon cubes to Purina One Dry Cat packaging.

Nestlé has also launched a programme to collect and recycle NESCAFÉ® Dolce Gusto® capsules in December 2022. “For Nestlé, coffee quality is paramount, but equally important is the sustainability of the growing process and achieving zero net greenhouse gas emissions, and this programme complements the many actions Nestlé has initiated. Our consumers can find out about the collection points and more information about this project at https://www.dolce-gusto.ro/recycling”, says Irina Siminenco, Corporate Affairs Manager, Nestlé Romania.