Nestlé Maps Its Route to Cutting Virgin Plastic 12%-17% by 2030

Nestlé plans to cut virgin plastic use by 12% to 17% by 2030 from a 2018 baseline, according to a packaging sustainability strategy the company published this month.

The global food and beverage giant will pursue the reduction through three main avenues: incorporating more recycled content, reducing overall plastic use, and innovating with reuse and refill solutions. Nestlé noted the target accounts for its planned sell-off of a stake in its water business for approximately $3.4 billion.

The new plan sharpens a earlier focus. Before 2025, Nestlé emphasized targets such as making all of its packaging recyclable, compostable or reusable. It achieved that for about 90% of its portfolio.

Recycled content carries the biggest share

Nestlé expects 50% to 60% of its planned virgin plastic reduction to come from incorporating more recycled plastic. Plastic packaging contained about 21% recycled content as of 2025, the company reported in its non-financial KPIs. As part of the effort, Nestlé says it is engaged in research on the food safety of recycled plastics to expand the use of recycled PET.

Reduction and elimination contribute another 30% to 40%

Plastic accounted for about a quarter of Nestlé's packaging portfolio by weight in 2025. The company's total plastics packaging use fell to 0.86 million metric tons in 2025, down from 1.7 million metric tons in 2018.

Paper swaps are one reduction avenue. Nestlé recently became one of six founding members of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation's new PaperFlex Consortium, which aims to accelerate R&D for paper-based flexible packaging as an alternative to plastic. The company has already commercialized examples, including replacing plastic laminates with paper in Nescafé paper soft packs in Europe.

Alternative materials and reuse trail behind

The remaining 10% to 15% of the improvement will come from alternative materials or reuse and refill solutions. Just 0.51% of Nestlé's packaging was reusable in 2025. The updated strategy highlights untapped opportunities in at-home refill products, but Nestlé still considers reuse and refill models largely to be in the pilot stage.

With most of the 2030 target riding on recycled content, Nestlé's ability to scale food-safe recycled PET — and paper-based flexibles through the PaperFlex Consortium — will largely determine whether the company lands within its 12%-to-17% reduction range.