Nestle vows to tackle ‘ocean-polluter’ tag

A boy walks on a garbage-filled creek in Manila to get his ball. Giant Western consumer product brands led by Nestle, Unilever and Procter & Gamble were accused by Greenpeace of causing serious ocean pollution as they use cheap and disposable plastics in their packaging products sold in the Philippines. — AFP FILE PHOTO

Global food and beverage giant Nestle vowed on Tuesday to address allegations by environment activist group Greenpeace that it was polluting the world’s oceans with cheap plastic packaging for its Philippine products.

In a report released last week, Greenpeace tagged the Philippines as the “third-worst polluter into the world’s oceans” after China and Indonesia.

The group blamed this on the use of cheap disposable plastic to package everything –from coffee and chips to shampoo and toothpaste – by Western consumer giants, including Nestle.

These low-value and single-use sachets, aimed at poorer consumers, are not recyclable and usually end up in landfill or as litter or marine debris, according to Greenpeace.

“We welcome continued discussions with Greenpeace, including the sharing of any resource or existing research that Greenpeace may provide on more efficient packaging solutions,” said a Nestle statement sent to AFP on Tuesday.

It said it was working “with stakeholders to improve recycling and recovery rates,” and encouraged consumers to dispose of plastic waste properly.

Nestle representatives met a Greenpeace campaigner last Friday to discuss its solid waste management.

However, a Greenpeace spokeswoman has told AFP that the company’s solutions presented at the meeting were at odds with the movement’s campaign for a complete ban on single-use plastics in favor of refillable containers.

/kga