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
