Nestlé entrepreneurs commit to promoting responsible waste management – EnviroNews

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“I pledge to ensure that I do not contribute to plastic pollution. I pledge to ensure that I will collect every wrapper and sachet of MILO, NESCAFÉ and Golden Morn products for proper recycling.”

Those were the words of commitment by a group of Nestlé Nigeria pushcart operators on Thursday, August 27, 2026, in Lagos.

The gathering was the 2026 edition of the organisation’s MYOWBU (My Own Business) Engagement & Environmental Awareness Initiative 2.0, which focused on empowering young entrepreneurs and promoting responsible waste management through the “Sell, Keep & Return” initiative.

The commitment highlights the Nestlé policy that business owners should be responsible to the environment, and that waste packaging should be disposed of appropriately and avoid ending up in drainage channels, for instance.

Speaking during the session, Chinwe Obi, Sustainability Manager at Nestlé, disclosed that a cornerstone of the company is to ensure that the business does not contribute to environmental pollution and flooding, such that “none of our packages end up in the landfill as waste and become a nuisance to the environment”.

“Since 2018, Nestlé has been working with some recycling companies to ensure that our packaging is recycled. In 2023, we recorded waste neutrality – collected a total of everything we put out into the market,” she added.

Similarly, Nestlé Nigeria has launched an environmental awareness training programme for pushcart operators, equipping vendors who sell MILO, NESCAFÉ and Golden Morn sachets daily to support the recovery of empty sachets from the communities and routes they serve.

The initiative, according to the organisation, advances Nestlé’s global ambition that none of its packaging, including plastics, ends up in landfill or as litter, while strengthening local systems for collection, sorting and recycling. In Nigeria, this commitment is reflected in Nestlé Nigeria’s 100% plastics neutrality achievement since 2023, with the company recovering an equivalent amount of plastic to what it places on the market.

Under the programme, operators take back empty sachets into collection bags on their carts and deliver them to assigned aggregation points, where the materials are handed over to recyclers for conversion into other useful applications and new products.

The approach helps prevent plastic pollution before it enters the environment, reducing the risk of blocked drains and flooding, open burning, harm to livestock and contamination of communities, waterways and public spaces.