Nestle sponsors clean up day

Nestlé employees and families collaborated with Sululta Municipality Offices, and the Ethiopian Red Cross Society to organize a clean-up exercise on Saturday June 8 at Sululta town, one of the bottled water factories on the north outskirts of Addis Ababa a prominent training area for Ethiopian athletes.
The exercise was held to commemorate the 2019 World Oceans Day and support the Battle Against Plastic Pollution in Ethiopia.
The program promotes efforts to improve local habitats and help create a waste-free future. It attracts hundreds of volunteers, including world-renowned athlete Haile Gebressilassie, who joined the actions at the Sululta clean-up events with the aim of creating greater awareness of the need to stop plastic waste from entering the environment.
The initiative was part of a global Nestlé employee volunteering initiative executed in more than 45 countries around the world.
“Bringing about meaningful change to help stop plastic waste starts with each of us as individuals and I am pleased to see such strong participation from our employees and their families in Ethiopia,” said Bruno Olierhoek, Market Head for Nestlé East and Southern Africa Region.
“Working closely with local communities is key to sustainable environmental management, and this event is one way our employees are helping to respond to the plastics waste challenge.”
Since July 2018 Nestlé have established a Post-Consumer plastic collection center in Sululta. The center is a self-sufficient collection center that has created 30 direct job opportunities and collects an average of 13 tons of plastic bottles monthly.
The Ethiopia Red Cross Society Deputy Secretary General Engida Mandefro stated, “We encourage other organizations and community members to play their part in environmental stewardship and guarding our water bodies from waste.”
“The UN estimates that over 13,000,000 tonnes of plastic leak into the ocean every year, what among other damage, kill 100,000 marine animals annually,” he added.
Nestlé, earlier this year, announced its commitment to have 100% of its packaging recyclable or reusable by 2025 in line with its broader vision that none of its packaging, including plastics, ends up in landfills or as litter. Nestlé is also playing an active role in developing plastics collection, sorting and recycling schemes globally, where it is contributing to industry coalitions that aim to improve collection and recycling rates.
Nestlé Waters at the forefront of Nestlé’s Plastic Strategy will increase the recycled PET content in its bottles to 35% by 2025 at global level and aims become plastic neutral by collecting as many plastic bottles as it produces by 2030.
Nestlé Waters Ethiopia is a Joint Venture (JV) between Nestlé Waters and the owners of Abyssinia Springs formed in May 2016. Nestlé Waters has taken a majority share in the JV and is managing Great Abyssinia’s bottle water business.
Nestlé Waters Ethiopia is the first Alliance for Water Stewardship Certified bottling facility in Africa
Nestlé is also working with the town, Oromia region and federal government to rehabilitate the Sululta area.