A. M. In the framework of World Environment Day, celebrated on june 5th, Nestlé reaffirms its commitment to environmental sustainability by launching “Reciclando Ando”, a new Creación de Valor Compartido (CSV) program that through different initiatives seeks to mitigate the company’s plastic footprint and move towards a waste-free future. In the last five years Nestlé has managed to reduce or recover more than 3,000 tons of post-consumer plastics in Central America.
With the ambition of collecting and recovering an amount equivalent to the volume of plastic packaging sold in each market in the region, Reciclando Ando with Nestlé promotes concrete actions in three specific pillars:
- Collection in the city: initiatives to divert from nature plastic waste accumulated in soils, rivers or seas.
- Point-of-sale collection: partnerships with customers and other companies in the industry to develop infrastructure to facilitate the separation and collection of post-consumer packaging.
- Education: promoting more responsible consumption habits from employees to end consumers.
“At Nestlé we are aware that as a society we have a great challenge to mitigate the negative impact that poorly managed post-consumer plastic packaging causes to the environment. To be an active part of the solution, we have a strategy that starts from the redesign of our packaging to the development of infrastructure for waste separation and education to end consumers”, said Elizabeth Valverde, Corporate Affairs and Sustainability leader for Nestlé Central America.
Outstanding achievements in plastic waste management in Central America:
In Central America, Nestlé’s markets in Costa Rica and El Salvador are a model of success as they have managed to divert from landfill the equivalent of 100% of the plastic packaging sold in each market, preventing it from ending up in the environment.
From 2020 to 2024, Costa Rica revalued more than 2,500 tons of post-consumer plastic packaging. El Salvador joined this vision in 2023, mitigating close to 660 additional tons that same year.
By 2025, Nestlé is working to add the Guatemalan and Panamanian markets to this plastic footprint mitigation effort. The company’s ambition is to collect and recover an amount equivalent to the volume of plastic packaging sold in each market.
Another important achievement of the company in Central America is the more than 30 collection points that it promotes in alliance with Walmart, Ternova and other industry allies in the different countries of the region.
“The objective with ”Reciclando Ando con Nestlé“ is to continue advancing in our vision of a waste-free future, strengthening the active programs we have in each country in the region and adding new allies to articulate collection and education actions on the correct management of post-consumer plastic packaging”, said Valverde.
World Environment Day 2025 will be celebrated on june 5, 2025. This year, the theme will be “END PLASTIC POLLUTION”, focusing on the alarming amount of plastic produced annually and its impact on the environment.
Nestlé joins this global movement, reaffirming its commitment to mitigate the plastic footprint and promote responsible waste management.
