Nestlé Waters North America will invest $6 million to help close the recycling loop in the US, joining other industry leaders in investing in recycling programmes and infrastructure.
The company will join the likes of Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and Keurig Green Mountain as part of the Closed Loop Fund – a $100 million social impact investment fund committed to finding a national solution to the recycling gap in the US.
It’s a challenge that needs addressing: according to estimates from the Environmental Protection Agency, three-quarters of the waste stream produced by American consumers can be recycled, but only 30% actually gets recycled. US businesses spent over $5 billion in 2015 disposing of waste in landfills. Much of the waste, such as PET plastic, can be converted into raw materials for packaging and reinjected into the supply chain.
Nestlé Waters North America chief sustainability officer Nelson Switzer said: “The United States has one of the lowest recycling rates of any industrialised country, but it doesn’t have to stay that way. The US has an opportunity to lead the way in recycling, while creating jobs, economic growth, and a more sustainable future.”
The investment is the latest in Nestlé Waters’ efforts to enhance its sustainable offering. The company has reduced the plastic content of its bottles by over 60% since 1994 and, last month, achieved a 50% post-consumer recycled plastic content in nine out of ten of its Arrowhead mountain spring water bottles.
“As a company, we are on a very deliberate journey toward zero landfill waste in our products and operations,” Switzer said, “so I can think of no better opportunity than working collectively to ensure these recyclable materials are transformed from garbage to the valuable resources that they are.”
The fund that Nestlé Waters is working with has diverted more than 100,000 tons of recyclable content to date, with scope for 4 million tons of waste to be saved between now and 2025.
In that time, it plans to eliminate more than 40 million tons of greenhouse gas, divert more than 20 million cumulative tons of waste from landfill and deliver value of $40 million to US industry.
“Nestlé Waters’ commitment to the Closed Loop Fund is a significant investment in creating shared value across the recycling supply chain,” said Rob Kaplan, managing director of the Closed Loop Fund. “The investment will enable people to recycle more, and efficiently turn those packages into new products. It will save taxpayer dollars and improve the recycling system.”
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