1,455 pieces of litter collected from Brighton beach as Nestlé volunteers mark Earth Day

The activity was part of the food and drink company’s efforts to highlight the need for action on climate change this Earth Day, which has seen teams across Nestlé UK & Ireland demonstrate their support for what’s become the largest environmental movement in the world.

More than 75 local Nestlé colleagues armed with litter pickers and sacks collected everything they could find from plastic wrappers and bags, to cans and bottles, old fishing equipment and PPE.

Robin Sundaram, Community Regeneration Lead at Nestlé, who took part in the beach clean-up, said: “Climate action is a key priority at Nestlé, which means everyone in the business has their part to play – including using our volunteering days to make a difference, just as we have in Brighton.

“A healthy ocean can sustain a diverse array of species – including mankind – and helps to protect us all against climate change. The cleanliness of the beach was visibly improved by the time we had finished, which was such a rewarding end to the day.”

The beach clean-ups are part of the Nestlé Cares programme, which facilitates up to 120,000 hours of volunteering every year from its UK and Ireland 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 in the UK and is committed to making all of its packaging recyclable or reusable by 2050. This includes the introduction of KitKat wrappers made with 80% recycled material, which will eliminate more than three billion pieces of packaging from its supply chain.

The UK and Irish business remains focussed on achieving a 20% absolute reduction in global carbon emissions by 2025, using grid-supplied renewable energy, windpower, biomass and hydropower at its factories and offices – all of which run on 100% renewable electricity – and is moving away from petrol and diesel-powered vans and trucks.