Nestlé Nigeria Redefines Corporate Sustainability: Building C

By Temitope Adebayo

In an era where sustainability often risks becoming a corporate cliché wrapped in glossy reports, Nestlé Nigeria is charting a different course — one grounded in action, transparency, and measurable impact.

What is happening inside the company today could permanently reshape how corporate sustainability is understood across Nigeria’s business landscape.

From Commitment to Concrete Change

For six consecutive years, Nestlé Nigeria has transformed World Environment Day from a one-day observance into a sustained nationwide movement.

In partnership with the African Clean-Up Initiative (ACI), over 516 volunteers were mobilized across 11 cities, including Lagos, Kano, Port Harcourt, Abuja, and Ibadan. They cleared more than 5,600 kilograms of solid waste and 380 kilograms of recyclables from markets such as Oke-Arin, Utako, and Mile 3, improving sanitation and community health.

This was no showmanship — it was hands-on, grassroots work, proving that real sustainability begins with collective responsibility and visible results.

Plastic Recovery: Turning Waste Into Worth

The Employee Plastics Collection Scheme (EPCS), launched in 2022, empowers Nestlé staff to collect and return plastic waste — both Nestlé and non-Nestlé brands — and earn rewards for participation. Since inception, the initiative has diverted 5,922 kilograms of plastic from landfills.

Beyond that, Nestlé’s larger recovery efforts have removed 61,000 metric tons of plastic from Nigeria’s environment since 2019 — a record that places the company among Africa’s most proactive advocates for a circular economy.

The company also became the first in Nigeria to use 50% recycled PET (rPET) in its Nestlé Pure Life bottles, achieving 100% plastic neutrality — meaning every ton of plastic it introduces into the market is recovered and recycled.

LClean Water, Sanitation, and Health

Recognizing that sustainability extends beyond waste, Nestlé has built WASH facilities providing more than 14 million litres of potable water annually to host communities near its factories.

In collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation, it also runs a National Water Quality Advocacy Campaign, educating Nigerians on safe water handling and hygiene practices.

Empowering Farmers and Securing the Food Chain

At the SERAS Africa Sustainability Awards 2024, Nestlé Nigeria was honoured as “Best in Food Security” and “Best in Circular Economy.”

Through training programmes, improved grain-quality systems, and a strengthened dairy value chain, the company is helping farmers boost income while improving national food resilience.

This initiative shows how nutrition, environmental stewardship, and livelihoods can coexist in one sustainable framework.

Media Capacity and Journalist Empowerment

In a forward-thinking expansion of its sustainability ecosystem, Nestlé Nigeria partnered with the Lagos Business School Sustainability Centre (LBSSC) to train journalists under the programme “Advancing Nutrition, Health, and Environmental Awareness Through the Media.”

The initiative has upskilled over 170 journalists across Nigeria in data-driven and solution-based reporting on sustainability, climate, and food systems.

In September 2024, 37 senior editors and reporters attended a three-day intensive at Nestlé’s Agbara factory, combining classroom sessions with on-site exposure to production processes and environmental management practices.

The goal is simple yet profound — to ensure that the media tells the sustainability story with knowledge, evidence, and impact.

Supporting Journalists and Their Families

Sustainability at Nestlé also means standing by those who serve the public interest.

In June 2024, the company partnered with the NASRE Media Foundation to support journalists and the families of deceased or incapacitated practitioners.

Through this initiative, 23 beneficiaries in Lagos and Ogun States received financial aid and Nestlé product support — reinforcing the brand’s belief that sustainable impact must also include human compassion.

Collaboration at the Core

Partnerships with NESREA, ACI, Alef Recycling, and Wecyclers show how Nestlé translates policy into community-level action.

Together, these alliances form a national sustainability network that drives environmental recovery, social inclusion, and corporate transparency.

A New Corporate Reality

From plastic neutrality and clean water access to farmer empowerment and journalist training, Nestlé Nigeria has built a living model of what responsible business should look like.

The company’s journey demonstrates that corporate sustainability can be tangible, inclusive, and transformative — not a slogan, but a measurable standard of excellence.

If replicated across industries, Nestlé Nigeria’s approach could redefine corporate citizenship in Africa — proving that with purpose and consistency, business can be a force for lasting good — one community, one story, and one sustainable action at a time.