Nestle to eliminate 200mil plastic straws a year

Nestle (M) Bhd chief executive officer Juan Aranols

KUALA LUMPUR: Nestle (M) Bhd will be implementing 100% paper straws across its entire ultra-high temperature (UHT) range by year-end.

It is the first large-scale food and beverage company in Asean to do so.

In a statement Thursday, Nestle said the initiative would eliminate over 200 million plastic straws per year, marking another breakthrough in the company’s war on plastic waste.

“Plastic waste is a global threat and we are totally committed to reducing our plastic footprint. Last year, we started by introducing paper straws for our MILO UHT 125ml drink packs and for our newly launched Milo Nutri Pluz,” CEO Juan Aranols said.

“We are now pleased to deliver on our commitment to expanding this all across our ready-to-drink (RTD) UHT products, with the transition completed by the end of 2020,” he added.

To date, 90% of Nestle Malaysia’s total packaging is already designed for recycling.

Its business executive officer for the RTD business unit April Wong said the new paper straws meet very stringent quality requirements.

“Many people are used to plastic straws and making the switch to paper straws will bring a slightly different consumer experience.

“We encourage all Malaysians to embrace the change and partner with us in this journey towards a more sustainable future,” she said.

Nestle said paper straws would be implemented progressively across Nestlé Malaysia's entire UHT range this year.

This includes Milo UHT 200ml, Milo UHT 125 ml, Milo Nutri Pluz 200 ml, Nestlé Just Milk Full Cream UHT 200ml, Nestlé Just Milk Strawberry UHT 200ml, Nestlé Omega Plus UHT 200ml and Nestlé Omega Plus Dark Choc UHT 200ml.