Diving into mission to clean up beaches, ocean

Nestle Cares volunteers collecting trash from one of the beaches.

MARKING Nestle’s 110th year in Malaysia, 500 Nestle employees volunteered in the company’s annual nationwide beach and ocean clean-up initiative.

They collected almost four tonnes of waste across six beach locations.

The locations this year were Pantai Cunang and Pantai Sungai Kajang in Selangor, Pantai Saujana in Negri Sembilan, Pantai Teluk Bahang in Penang, Pantai Batu Buruk in Terengganu and Teluk Likas in Sabah.

In addition, Nestle carried out underwater clean-up activities in Pulau Tioman, Pahang and Pulau Mabul in Sabah.

The team in Pulau Mabul also planted 110 corals, under expert supervision.

This year’s initiative benefitted from the participation of over 70 volunteers from the Environment and Water Ministry.

It further strengthened the company’s commitment to build public-private partnerships to accelerate the transition to a greener future.

Following the trash collection, all waste was separated according to the types of recyclables, including plastics, and sent for washing and recycling, giving these materials a second life and diverting them away from oceans.

Meanwhile, non-recyclable materials were sent to a waste-to-energy plant via Nestle’s recycling partner, KPT Recycle Sdn Bhd.

Nestle Malaysia’s beach clean-up activity kicked off in 2019 as an employee volunteer initiative under the company’s Nestle Cares umbrella.

To date, over 12 tonnes of waste have been recovered through the annual beach and ocean clean-up, reflecting the company’s vision to ensure that none of the plastics or packaging materials it uses ends up in oceans.

Nestle (M) Bhd chief executive officer Juan Aranols said protecting the planet required collective action.

“We encourage all Malaysians to join us in this journey. Our action to reduce the use of plastics and promote collection, separation and recycling is an important part of our pledge to act on climate change and accelerate our journey towards net zero emissions and plastic neutrality.

“We have already achieved significant progress, and we will double down further on all these programmes,” he said.

Nestle Malaysia continues to promote environmental awareness through its Door-to-Door (D2D) Collection and Recycling Programme, reaching over 90,000 households in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur to date, in collaboration with KPT Recycle Sdn Bhd and the municipalities.

Another programme, Careton, in partnership with Tetra Pak (M) Sdn Bhd, will collect over 50 million UHT packs this year for separation and recycling and reuse of the various packaging material components.

In total, the company’s efforts are enabling the collection, separation and recycling of over 5,000 tonnes of waste in 2022.

“Our beach and ocean clean-ups mean a lot to us as they allow many of our employees to be part of Nestle’s environmental efforts and contribute to the company’s green transition.

“Through this annual activity, in addition to creating great bonds within our teams, we wish to raise awareness and educate the public on the responsible disposal of plastic and other forms of waste.

“With these initiatives in place and clear targets set for our sustainability programmes, we will continue to spearhead a brighter future for all and bring about impactful, positive change for the planet,” added Aranols.