Nestle Partnership with USAID Grantee Encourages Reusable Packaging

With support from Nestle, Philippine Reef & Rainforest Conservation Foundation, Inc. launched a new approach to tackle a key source of ocean plastics: single-use sachets.

Nanay Lilian Gordoncillo, owner of a zero-waste store in Bacolod City, agreed to pilot an approach reconciling environmental goals and client preferences by selling bulk Nestle products in reusable, refillable containers.

The Philippines consumes roughly 60 billion single-use sachets each year. These small, lightweight plastic packages are extremely difficult to recycle, making them a major source of pollution in the country. With support from Nestle, USAID grantee Philippine Reef & Rainforest Conservation Foundation, Inc. (PRRCFI) recently launched a new approach to tackle this specific waste stream.

One of PRRCFI’s core approaches is to transform convenience stores –called sari-sari stores– into Wala Usik (“Nothing Wasted”) shops that facilitate daily purchases of consumer goods sold in single-portion, single-use plastic packaging. Sari-sari stores are a defining feature of every neighborhood in the country, accounting for around 70% of manufactured food product sales.[1]

In 2019, PRRCFI piloted a zero-waste consumer goods model in eight sari-sari stores on Negros Island. Through the model, stores sell products in large dispensers to encourage a shift away from sachets while preserving the affordability and flexibility of single-portion purchasing. Consumers take home key goods such as shampoo, soap, cooking oil, and condiments in reusable, refillable containers.

One of the main challenges expressed by store owners testing this approach is that consumers prefer items from brands that they know and trust; products kept in large unbranded dispensers do not sell as well. To address this issue, PRRCFI partnered with Nestle to introduce Nestle Aldo Dispensers –branded dispensers for coffee and creamer– at one of the zero-waste stores on Negros Island.

This pilot offers both PRRCFI and Nestle the opportunity to measure community reception to a zero-waste approach built on brand recognition and preference. This initiative demonstrates the rich partnership potential that exists between community-level waste prevention activities and corporate commitments to reduce single-use plastics. 

[1] OECD Food and Agricultural Reviews Agricultural Policies in the Philippines (2017), pg. 91