No fewer than 200 Nestlé volunteers cleaned up seven markets across Nigeria to mark the World Cleanup Day 2021 on Thursday, September 16, 2021, removing and disposing over 3,000 kg of waste from the environment.
This was made possible under Nestlé Cares, Nestlé’s global staff volunteering platform.
The World Cleanup Day is marked annually on Sept. 18.
The day unites countries, communities and volunteers across the world for clean-up exercises, promoting the need for proper management of waste and raising global awareness and action for a cleaner planet.
This is the third year that Nestlé Nigeria is collaborating with other stakeholders and partners to take action to protect the environment.
Speaking at the clean-up exercise in Lagos, Wassim Elhusseini, Managing Director and CEO of Nestlé Nigeria PLC, said: “ I am happy to see over 200 Nestlé Cares volunteers joining the clean-up exercise in markets across Nigeria.
“At Nestlé Nigeria, we continue to take progressive steps on the journey towards ensuring a waste free future in line with our global commitment to preserving the environment.
“ We are committed to leading lasting and impactful change in tackling waste pollution through initiatives like this clean-up exercise.
“We not only contribute to driving solutions by taking concrete action, but we also aim to raise awareness and promote behavioral change on proper waste management, beginning within our company,’’ he said.
Alexander Akhigbe, Founder/CEO African Clean-up Initiative, implementing partner for the Nestlé Cares cleanup exercise, said: “We are delighted to work with Nestlé for this year’s World Cleanup Day.
“The challenge of indiscriminate waste disposal is glaring and requires sustained multi-sector efforts to address.
“Everyone has a role to play in keeping the environment clean, as this is the only planet we have,’’ he said.
In 2018, Nestlé revealed that it was taking steps globally to promote environmental sustainability through well-orchestrated efforts based on three pillars.
The first pillar is to phase out all non-recyclable or hard-to-recycle plastics and replace these with alternative materials that are recyclable or even biodegradable by 2025.
The second pillar is to achieve a waste-free future by driving projects to prevent further accumulation of plastic in the environment and also collaborating with stakeholders and organisations to achieve this.
The third pillar is driving behavioral change through education and awareness beginning within the organisation.
In 2020, the company also announced her global commitment to halve her greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2030 and achieve net zero by 2050.
Nestlé Nigeria is a leading member of the Food and Beverage Recycling Alliance (FBRA) which drives Industry collaboration on post consumption waste management and recycling.
Nestlé Cares provides opportunities for Nestlé employees to give back to society by offering their time, talent and resources while impacting individuals and families, our communities and the environment.
By Abiodun Azi
