A team of volunteers from Nestlé's office in Dublin spent the day picking up litter on Dollymount Beach last week and collected 76kg of litter. The volunteering day was part of the An Taisce Clean Coasts Big Beach Clean campaign, an annual call to action for the International Coastal Cleanup.
The activity was part of the food and drink company's efforts to highlight the need for action on climate change, which has seen Nestlé teams worldwide demonstrate their support for what has become the most significant environmental movement in the world.
More than 30 local Nestlé colleagues armed with litter pickers and refuse sacks collected everything they could find, from plastic wrappers and bags to cans and bottles, old fishing equipment and discarded clothing.
Kieran Conroy, Country Manager at Nestlé Ireland, said Nestlé believed in the power of force for good.
"Everyone in the business has a part to play in building a healthier and more sustainable world, which is why we were delighted to partner with Clean Coasts again this year for our fourth beach cleanup on Dollymount Beach, Dublin," said Conroy.
"The team spent a wonderful morning together cleaning while enjoying the beautiful Dublin coastline. The beach's cleanliness was visibly improved, which was a rewarding end to the day."
The beach cleanups are part of the Nestlé Cares programme, facilitating up to 120,000 volunteer hours annually from its Ireland and UK employees.
As well as encouraging colleagues to volunteer their time and take action on climate change, Nestlé is working towards reducing the use of virgin plastic by one-third by 2025 and is committed to making all of its packaging recyclable or reusable by 2050. This includes the introduction of KitKat wrappers made with 80 percent recycled material, which will eliminate more than three billion pieces of packaging from its supply chain.
Nestlé also remains focused on achieving a 20 percent absolute reduction in global carbon emissions by 2025, using grid-supplied renewable energy, wind power, biomass and hydropower at its factories and offices – all of which run on 100 percent renewable electricity – and is moving away from petrol and diesel-powered vans and trucks.
