Over 1000 Nestl volunteers gathered with local authorities and NGOs in the Middle East and North African regions to raise awareness and protect the marine biodiversity by cleaning up beaches and other water areas. More than 25 tons of waste was collected to be sorted and recycled through the local partners.

The activities held on World Ocean Day which is celebrated on every June 8th since 1992, were part of global Nestl employee volunteering initiative in more than 45 countries.

I am excited to see so many engaged employees and their families gathered to #CleanUpTogether, said Yves Manghardt, Nestl Middle East Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Through this internal volunteering initiative, we aim to foster responsible behavior, as change starts with ourselves.

Last year, Nestl had announced that 100% of its packaging will be reusable or recyclable by 2025. This means that none of its packaging including plastics will end up as landfills or litter.

Nestl outlines its commitment towards improving their packaging and reduce plastic waste to a great extent. Manghardt said: We have a broader vision and action plan that outline our commitment to address the plastics packaging waste issue.

While we are committed to pursuing recycling options where feasible, we know that 100% recyclability is not enough to successfully tackle the waste issue. We need to push the boundaries and do more, he added.

Nestl also aims to stop plastic leakage into the environment by 2025 across its global operations.

Last year in December, Nestl announced the launch of the Institute of Packaging Sciences in Switzerland in order to evaluate and develop several sustainable packaging materials in collaboration with industrial partners in order to develop new packaging solutions.

Nestl will discontinue all plastics that cannot be reused or recycled for all its products worldwide by 2025. Nestl is introducing its alternative packaging materials for all of their products and establishing connections and partnerships with top-notch packaging specialists.