Nestlé Lanka and Perera & Sons Bakers work together to help tackle plastic pollution in Sri Lanka

estlé Lanka and Perera & Sons Bakers (Pvt) Ltd. have joined hands to help tackle plastic pollution in Sri Lanka, by collecting and recycling material of products consumed in the local bakery chain’s outlets. Working together, the two companies have taken steps to facilitate segregation of waste by placing separate bins for recyclables and encouraging responsible disposal. The collected waste is then sent to the Perera & Sons Recyclable Material Collection Centre in Rajagiriya, where they are cleaned, compressed, and stored until being transported to local recyclers Eco-Maximus and Eco-Spindles. Currently implemented at over 100 outlets, Nestlé Lanka and P&S hope to expand this initiative to P&S outlets island-wide in the years to come.

As part of this worthy collaboration, Nestlé Lanka helped set up a baling machine at the P&S Recyclable Material Collection Centre. This baling machine helps strengthen the collection and recycling efforts of the local bakery chain, by compressing waste and facilitating their transportation for further processing and recycling more regularly.

“As one of the largest players in the Out-Of-Home business in Sri Lanka, Nestlé Professional is honoured to join hands with the largest local bakery chain, in our journey of doing good for the planet. This collaboration is aimed at encouraging responsible waste disposal, where we are taking steps together with P&S to collect recyclable waste at their outlets. This is a significant step towards our ambition of ensuring a waste-free future for Sri Lanka”, said Roshan Perera, Vice President – Nestlé Professional.

Sharing his views on the collaboration, Kamal Jaimon, Executive Director, Perera & Sons Bakers (Pvt) Ltd. said “As a homegrown bakery chain, we are happy to do our part to help tackle plastic pollution in Sri Lanka. Bakeries such as ours generate a significant amount of packaging waste, giving us the opportunity to collect and recycle them. We urge all our customers to be a part of this sustainability journey by dropping their recyclables in the respective bin after consumption and helping give them a second life!”

Jason Avanceña, Managing Director of Nestlé Lanka said “Tackling plastic pollution is an urgent priority for us at Nestlé. We are working together with different stakeholders to ensure none of our packaging ends up in landfills or the oceans. Whilst over 80% of our packaging by weight is currently recyclable, we are committed to make our packaging 100% recyclable or reusable by 2025. We also are also taking steps to help strengthen collection and recycling infrastructure in the country, whilst helping encourage a positive behavioural change in our consumers. I am confident that this collaboration with Perera & Sons Bakers (Pvt) Ltd. will help accelerate our efforts in making Sri Lanka more sustainable.”