KUALA LUMPUR, July 23 ― Nestle Malaysia has announced that they will be using paper straws across their entire range of UHT products by the end of 2020 In their battle against plastic waste,
With the initiative making them the first large scale food and beverage company in Asean to do so, the company is expecting to eliminate over 200 million plastic straws annually, which is also in line with the company’s global pledge to turn their packaging 100 percent recyclable by 2025.
According to the Nestle Malaysia Berhad chief executive officer Juan Aranols, they have introduced the use of paper straws for their Milo UHT 125 millilitres (ML) drink packs and for their newly launched Milo Nutri Pluz.
“This is all part of our commitment to design environmentally friendly packaging solutions and adopt them with a positive sense of urgency.
“To date, 90 per cent of Nestle Malaysia’s total packaging is already designed for recycling.”
The new paper straws that are being used had gone through a very rigid quality requirement beforehand and according to Nestle Malaysia business executive officer April Wong, the straws are responsibly-sourced and it is safe for drinking.
“Many people are used to plastic straws and making the switch to paper straws will bring a slightly different consumer experience.
“We encourage all Malaysians to embrace the change and partner with us in this journey towards a more sustainable future.”
The other Nestle UHT products that will be using paper straws by the end of 2020 includes the 200ml and 125ml Milo UHT, the 200ml Milo Nutri Pluz, the 200ml Nestle Just Milk Full Cream and Strawberry UHT and also the 200ml Nestle Omega Plus and Omega Plus Dark Choc UHT.
Nestle Malaysia is also looking to raise awareness on recycling across the nation through education campaigns similar to the CAREton Project by Milo UHT which aims to collect 45 million used beverage cartons in 2020.
The project which was ran from 2013 until 2019 is a collaboration project between Tetra Pack, and the collected packs are then recycled into roofing tiles that were later donated to the Orang Asli communities.
By the end of 2019, The CAREton Project has managed to collect over 95 million drink packs with enough materials to build 280 homes.
Nestle Malaysia has also created a ‘Green Gladiators’ task force consisting of over 150 participating employees with the mission to accelerate sustainability initiatives such as efforts against plastic waste.
It is also taking actions to reduce carbon footprint which includes the reforestation efforts in East Malaysia under Project RiLeaf.
