Nestle removes 100m wrappers of packaging waste from environment

As part of its continued efforts towards environmental sustainability, Nestlé Nigeria has restated the need for continued consumer education on collection and proper disposal of packaging waste.
The company said on Tuesday in Lagos that it was in line with its commitment toward ensuring that none of its product packaging, including plastics, should end up in landfills or as litter in the environment, in the seas, oceans and waterways.
It made the assertion as it concluded it “Maggi Mega Millions”  in Lagos, adding that over 100 million Maggi wrappers were collected by participants from across the country.
It said: “Waste pollution is one of the biggest sustainability issues the world is facing today.
“Its impact can be seen across many urban cities, oceans and waterways across the world,’’ it said in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria.
“Nigeria generates more than 32 million metric tonnes of waste annually with Lagos alone producing about 10,000 metric tonnes which end up in landfills and in waterways, exacerbating the challenges of flooding and gridlocks.
“Tackling this menace requires multi-sector and multi-stakeholder collaboration to accelerate progress toward a sustainable solution.
“The recently concluded MAGGI MEGA MILLIONS is therefore a welcome intervention to sensitise the general public on the need for proper waste management.’’
It said that over 100 million Maggi wrappers — over 7 tonnes, were collected and returned by participants across Nigeria.
Speaking at the end of the Maggi Mega Millions in Lagos, Nwando Ajene, Category Manager Culinary, Nestlé Nigeria said: “We believe that this activity has helped to encourage proper collection, sorting and disposal of packaging materials to help ensure a cleaner environment.
“With the success of this initiative in retrieving this volume of wrappers in only six weeks, we believe that with all stakeholders working together, we can ensure a sustainable waste-free environment’’.
It said that participants at the closing event included members of the Nestlé Nigeria’s management team and the Executive Secretary of the Food and Beverage Recycling Alliance, Agharese Lucia Onaghise.
“This is a great initiative by Nestlé in line with its commitment to recover their post-consumer waste from the environment.
“It is interesting to see the amount of Maggi wraps collected from this programme that would otherwise have been disposed indiscriminately.
“I encourage all to continue to ensure we are responsible for the waste we generate so that we can have a cleaner environment,’’ Onaghise said.