Introduction
Nestle is one of the leading companies in the field of health, nutrition and wellness. Almost all of its products rely on the environment and thus, there is a need for the company to squarely take part in dealing with the issue of global warming. This company has not been left behind in the global warming issue and there are some advances it has made. These advances will be addressed by this report showing where the company has gone right or wrong.
Nestle advances towards environmental sustainability
To cater to the environment, the company has come up with some policies which will guide it in all its environmental operations. The main goal of Nestle is to make products in an environmentally friendly manner (Nestec Ltd, 2011). To meet this goal, the company makes sure that all the natural resources it uses are spent efficiently and makes use of renewable resources in order to minimize wastage. The company has set its wastage level to zero. The company has come up with three principles that guide it towards environmental sustainability. The three principles include (Nestec Ltd, 2008):
- The company responsibility towards society, present and future.
- The company desire to satisfy their consumers.
- The company depends on a sustainable environment that will provide resources of high quality needed to make their products.
The three principles have been guiding Nestle Company in its operations towards environmental sustainability. In line with these principles, the company has committed itself to carrying out a number of issues which will be addressed in the following paragraphs. These principles have also integrated the United Nations Global Compact Principles (Nestec Ltd, 2008).
One of the issues which have helped the company in its plan for conserving the environment is to commit itself to fully complying with environmental legislation and having its internal rules and regulations followed strictly. Environmental performance is continuously improved by the management in a number of ways. Some of these ways include the integration of environmental programs, practices and principles into each activity carried out by the company through the company environmental management program that is in line with international regulations (Nestec Ltd, 2010).
Nestle products are designed in an eco-friendly manner so as not to cause harm to the environment. Many of the products are packaged in recycled materials and in materials that can be recycled (Byrne, 2011). Much preference is given to the suppliers in all fields of the chain of distribution. This is helping the company to continuously strive to protect the environment. The efficiency of the supplier’s operations is aimed at sustaining the environment as regards to utilization of the resources.
Great efforts have been invested in quality environmental sustenance and conservation auditing and verification of the certification of the practices. Reports relating to the efforts of the company to conserve the environment are verified. This verification is based on scientific evidence. More of the information on Nestle products and services is also evaluated to determine if they are in line with the policies of the company on environment conservation (Brabeck-Letmath et. al, 2006).
The company is involved in regular training and educating its employees on environmental awareness and conservation. This vital action is not only limited to the company’s employees only but also the business partners of the company and the society at large are also trained on environmental conservation.
The efforts relating to the environmental conservation put in place by the company’s employees are recognized and honored. Other sound practices that are considered to help conserve the environment improvement are also recognized by the company’s management (Nestec Ltd, 2010).
The company is also involving the suppliers, staff, customers, products consumers, potential associates and the community at large in decision-making over issues on the products and services that can help in environmental conservation (Nestec Ltd, 2010). This is achieved by allowing sound dialogue between the company and the external world over matters relating to environmental improvement.
Media role
Sufficient evidence exists on the involvement of the media over the Nestle company’s involvement in environmental conservation. The new policies that were created helped to commit the company to identify and eliminate the companies that are involved in its chain of production and distribution of its products and services but are also involved in the activities that pose a risk to the environment. Such activities include the destruction of the plantation to supply palm oil and paper manufacturing companies. A campaign was launched over the social media profiles such as Facebook, Twitter and many others the public was allowed to send messages on the concerns raised on the dangers of environmental destruction (Greenpeace International, 2010).
Nestlé’s strong efforts coupled with the powerful social media-Facebook and Twitter helped in the establishment of the Kit-Kat campaign that posted on the fan page over Nestlé’s need to get involved in the environmental conservation helped to gather the general public’s views on the environmental improvement (Nestec Ltd, 2010).
Consumer participation
Environment conservation is the responsibility of the many partners. In this case, the partners include consumers, the community, suppliers and the company itself. For good results to be realized, these partners should be involved in the conservation of the environment. Other than buying nestle products, consumers can as well be involved in the conservation by attending the educational summits and trade fairs. The information and knowledge obtained from the training have to be applied in order to sustain the environment (Nestec Ltd, 2011).
Nestle commitment globally
Nestle company is actively involved in environmental issues by drawing its policies on environmental conservation relative to the UN millennium development goals. The mode of packaging guided the desire to have high-quality standards (Montague-Jones, 2009). These are aimed at attaining the reduced level of wastage as regards this; the company uses recyclable materials for packaging (Colombini, 2011).
The production chain is involved in the usage of water however, Nestle has confined its production to limit wastage of water; taking care of the local water sources by avoiding pollution and sustenance of the sources of water. The company is also involved in educating the farmers on the importance of water management. It also reaches to collaborate with other companies to reach out to the community and disseminate information on the conservation of water with greater attention paid to children and women (Nestec Ltd, 2011).
The agricultural materials chosen by Nestle company for production purposes are largely guided by the need to sustain and improve local practices that are used by the farmers to avail the raw materials to the company (Brabeck-Letmath et. al, 2006). Sustaining agricultural activities is considered by the company in order to realize proper environmental conservation.
Nestles production and distribution chains are guided by the need to apply the best technologies that can help achieve a reduction of the energy consumed per unit weight of the product. Also to reduce emissions to the environment, recycling the by-products and utilizing renewable sources of energy that are economically viable. Nestle is actively involved in the sustenance of water sources in the African countries for example the initiative of the piped water distribution in south Africa where other local non-governmental organizations are also involved in a partnership with nestle (Nestle SA, 2010).
Nestle has shown interest in fair-trade for its products and it has demonstrated good performance over the sales of coffee in the establishment of the fair-trade trademark for its coffee products (Vidal, 2005). This has helped increase the sales and the realization of the need to help coffee farmers in African countries and Latin America (MercyCorps, 2005).
Conclusion
In conclusion, Nestle Company is well aware of the global warming issue. In this context, it is doing its best so that its operations globally do not have adverse effects on the environment. The company has made great advances towards this issue as it has been described in this report.
References list
Brabeck-Letmath, P. et. al., 2006. The Nestle concept of corporate social responsibility, Geneva: Foundation Strategy Group.
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Nestec Ltd, 2010. Environmental sustainability: a life cycle approach. Web.
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Nestec Ltd, 2010. The Nestle Policy on Environmental Sustainability. Web.
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Nestec Ltd, 2011. Nestle global workshop advances sustainability in product design. Web.
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