Nestlé's York factory has achieved ‘zero waste,’ four years ahead of the company’s 2015 target.

The confectionery site, where more than a billion KitKats and 183 million Aeros are made each year, now sends no waste to landfill.

The move means a yearly saving of nearly £120,000 in landfill tax, and revenue is also being generated by selling nearly 800 tonnes of recovered materials such as cardboard, plastics, metal, pallets and metallised film.

Nestlé teamed up with Yorwaste on waste management and more than thirty Nestlé ‘recycling champions’ were identified, covering all shifts and processes on the site.

A spokesman said it had also been reducing the amount of packaging it used and the amount of packaging materials used for medium Easter eggs this year had been reduced by 100 tonnes on the figure for 2010. “This has been achieved by reducing pack sizes and using different formats such as foil wrapped hollow figures,” he said.

Nestlé UK had also reduced water usage at all manufacturing sites, offices and distribution centres.

Paul Grimwood, the York-born chairman and chief executive of Nestlé UK, said that although there was still much to do in the company’s ‘sustainability journey’, he was very proud of what employees had achieved in such a short time.

“At Nestlé, we are committed to manufacturing and doing business in a way that protects the planet and its resources for future generations and helps our local communities thrive,” he said.

Yorwaste managing director Steve Grieve said: “We are delighted to have been able to work with Nestle to provide a total waste management solution that now officially means that after recycling and recovery, not one single piece of waste produced at the York site is sent to landfill.”

York Press: The Press - Comment

Sweet savings

NEARLY everyone likes to talk green these days – but actually doing something about it is less common than well-intentioned chatter.

So Nestlé’s York factory is to be congratulated for achieving ‘zero waste’ four years ahead of its target. This is quite something when you consider the tremendous amount of confectionery produced at the factory, where more than a billion KitKats are made each year.

To generate so much without sending any waste to landfill is a great success. It also makes business sense as it saves the company nearly £120,000 in landfill tax.

There is more to be done, but this is a sweet bit of sustainability, however you look at it.

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