KUALA LUMPUR (July 23): Nestle (Malaysia) Bhd will be implementing 100% paper straws across its entire ultra-high temperature (UHT) processing range by the end of 2020, making it the first large-scale food and beverage company in Asean to do so.
In a statement today, Nestle Malaysia said the initiative will eliminate over 200 million plastic straws per year, marking another breakthrough in the company’s war on plastic waste.
Nestle Malaysia chief executive officer (CEO) Juan Aranols (pic) said plastic waste is a global threat and the group had started introducing paper straws for MILO UHT 125ml drink packs and its newly launched Milo Nutri Pluz.
“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. To date, 90% of Nestle Malaysia’s total packaging is already designed for recycling.”
Meanwhile, Nestle Malaysia's business executive officer for the RTD business unit, April Wong, said the new paper straws meet very stringent quality requirements.
"We ensure that the paper straws used are responsibly-sourced and also absolutely safe for drinking.
“We encourage all Malaysians to embrace the change and partner with us in this journey towards a more sustainable future,” she added.
Paper straws will be implemented progressively across Nestle Malaysia’s entire UHT range in 2020. This includes the following products:
- MILO UHT 200ml
- MILO UHT 125ml
- MILO Nutri Pluz 200ml
- Nestle Just Milk Full Cream UHT 200ml
- Nestle Just Milk Strawberry UHT 200ml
- Nestle Omega Plus UHT 200ml
- Nestle Omega Plus Dark Choc UHT 200ml
In parallel with this change, Nestle Malaysia said it is also fully committed to helping the nation to increase recycling through education campaigns that raise awareness among consumers.
For instance, the CAREton Project by MILO UHT aims to collect 45 million used beverage cartons in 2020, including its own MILO UHT drink packs.
In partnership with Tetra Pak, collected packs are recycled into roofing tiles that are later donated to Orang Asli communities.
Nestle Malaysia said the CAREton Project — since its launch in 2013 until end-2019 — had collected over 95 million drink packs with enough materials to build 280 homes.
Nestle Malaysia said it had also created a “Green Gladiators” task force with over 150 participating employees tasked with the mission to accelerate sustainability initiatives, such as efforts against plastic waste and in support of circularity.
Meanwhile, Project RiLeaf aims to reduce the carbon footprint through reforestation efforts in East Malaysia.
At 11.32am today, Nestle Malaysia had shed 1.8 sen or 1.27% to RM140.20, with a market capitalisation of RM32.88 billion. The stock saw some 21,000 shares traded.