Every June 5th, people worldwide pause to reflect on the health of our planet. For 2025’s World Environment Day, Nestlé Nigeria didn’t just pause — it mobilised. In a single, coordinated effort, over 500 volunteers, drawn from Nestlé’s employees, rolled up their sleeves across 11 bustling Nigerian cities to clear thousands of kilograms of waste clogging markets, roadsides, and local drains.
Why does this matter? Because Nigeria’s waste crisis is real and visible. According to the World Bank, Nigeria generates over 32 million tonnes of solid waste every year, but only a fraction is properly collected and recycled. Plastics, in particular, have choked drains, polluted rivers, and littered communities from Lagos to Kano. While governments and local councils have policies on the books, on-the-ground action often lags far behind the urgency of the problem.
So, for this year’s World Environment Day — themed “Land Restoration, Desertification, and Drought Resilience” — Nestlé Nigeria aimed to do more than raise awareness. It chose to demonstrate that a coordinated, practical clean-up, supported by strong partnerships and driven by volunteers, can transform neglected public spaces and inspire local residents to take more responsibility for their environment.
This wasn’t Nestlé’s first dance with sustainability. The company has pledged globally to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, with milestones like making 100% of its packaging recyclable or reusable by 2025. In Nigeria, it has introduced various community and employee waste collection schemes, pushing for a circular economy in collaboration with local recycling partners. This 11-city clean-up shows what it looks like when global commitments hit local streets.
In the sections ahead, we’ll unpack exactly how this operation worked, who made it possible, the measurable results it achieved, and how it aligns with Nestlé’s bigger vision to leave no waste behind. If you’ve ever wondered whether big companies can move beyond slogans to real impact, here’s a case worth your time.
Scope of the Clean-Up Drive
Nestlé’s World Environment Day clean-up was not confined to just its headquarters or a flagship city like Lagos. Instead, it spanned 11 cities simultaneously: Lagos, Sagamu, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Abaji, Agbara, Jos, Kano, Ilorin, Enugu, and Kaduna.
These locations were not chosen at random. Each city hosts a mix of Nestlé offices, production facilities, or major distribution hubs, ensuring that the company could rally its employees while engaging local authorities and communities. For instance, Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial nerve centre, has some of the busiest open-air markets where improperly disposed plastics and food waste block drainage systems and cause flash flooding. In contrast, smaller hubs like Abaji and Agbara are semi-urban but critical for Nestlé’s local supply chain, so waste management is just as urgent.
The heart of the clean-up effort lay in the markets and high-footfall neighbourhoods. Volunteers didn’t just sweep paved roads — they targeted drain channels, alleyways behind stalls, and litter-prone corners that often escape municipal sweeps. In places like Mushin Market in Lagos and Port Harcourt’s Mile 1 Market, the clean-ups removed mounds of plastic sachets, discarded food wrappers, and used water bottles that would otherwise flow into open gutters during heavy rains.
Timing was equally strategic. The clean-up took place on June 5 to align with World Environment Day’s theme and to maximise media visibility and local awareness. Local councils provided permission and logistical help, ensuring that waste collection trucks were ready to haul away the gathered waste immediately, preventing pile-ups that could undermine the entire effort.
Nestlé’s decision to synchronise activities across multiple cities delivered two big wins: first, it amplified the scale and impact — making it clear this was no token event. Second, it allowed local Nestlé teams to adapt the clean-up to each community’s specific challenges. For example, while Lagos teams tackled plastic-laden drainages, teams in Jos focused more on open waste dumps at market edges.
In all, the multi-city scope showcased what a well-organised, corporate-led volunteer initiative can accomplish when paired with local insights and official cooperation. It also laid a blueprint that other companies and civic groups could replicate nationwide.
Partnerships and Stakeholder Involvement
Nestlé did not tackle this ambitious clean-up alone. Its approach leaned heavily on partnerships with both corporate recyclers and local community enablers, making sure the effort was not just about bagging waste but also about proper disposal and recycling.
One of the main engines behind this drive was the Food and Beverage Recycling Alliance (FBRA) — Nigeria’s first producer responsibility organisation focused on creating an industry-led approach to sustainable packaging waste management. As a founding member, Nestlé leveraged FBRA’s network and logistical expertise to ensure that the recyclable waste collected did not end up back in dumpsites but was redirected to recycling plants.
Local Recycling Partners
Other key partners included local waste management outfits and recyclers such as Alef Recycling, Wecyclers, Chanja Datti, and MECOM Recycling. Each brought specific strengths: for instance, Wecyclers is renowned in Lagos for its community-based recycling model using cargo bicycles and low-cost collection points, while Chanja Datti has strong links with informal waste pickers in Abuja and the North Central region.
Government and Community Coordination
To mobilise boots on the ground, Nestlé tapped into its Nestlé Cares volunteer programme. More than 516 employees participated, wearing protective gear and working alongside local council sanitation teams. They cleared debris, segregated plastic bottles from organic waste, and directed sorted materials to designated recyclers.
Critically, local governments and market associations were not passive observers. In places like Port Harcourt and Ilorin, local council waste trucks were on standby to transport non-recyclables to formal dumpsites. Market leaders used public address systems to inform traders of temporary stall relocations, ensuring the clean-up did not disrupt commerce unnecessarily.
This multi-stakeholder synergy ensured that the clean-up went beyond optics. Every party — from corporate staff to informal recyclers — knew their role. The result was an operation where community trust was strengthened and where waste truly left the streets for proper processing.
Volunteer Participation and Community Engagement
A defining feature of the clean-up was the raw enthusiasm of Nestlé’s employees. Under the Nestlé Cares initiative, staff across departments — from supply chain managers to brand executives — signed up as volunteers. This wasn’t a top-down directive; it was a blend of corporate encouragement and individual passion for sustainability.
In the days leading up to June 5, local coordinators held briefing sessions. Volunteers learned safety protocols, sorting techniques, and got familiar with the local recycling chain so they could explain it to curious market-goers. This pre-event orientation ensured that the clean-up was orderly, safe, and educational.
On the ground, volunteers did more than pick up litter. They spoke with market traders, explained why certain waste items were separated, and encouraged people to continue sorting their waste after the event. In some cities, volunteers handed out flyers with simple instructions on how to store recyclables for local collectors.
One interesting dimension was how local children and passers-by joined spontaneously. In Abuja’s Garki Market, for example, school kids who saw volunteers sweeping drains offered to help carry filled waste bags to collection points. Moments like this turned the clean-up into an impromptu community lesson on civic responsibility.
Many Nestlé staff shared their experiences on social media, tagging posts with World Environment Day hashtags. This informal digital storytelling helped spread awareness beyond the physical sites, encouraging friends and family to think twice about littering.
The participation also reinforced a culture shift within Nestlé itself. Sustainability is no longer seen as an abstract department task but as a daily commitment by every employee. It brought colleagues together outside their routine roles, nurturing a shared sense of accountability for the communities where they live and work.
Impact and Broader Outcomes
The June 5 cleanup had hard numbers that speak volumes. In just one day across 11 Nigerian cities, Nestlé Cares volunteers removed 5,601 kg of mixed waste and 379.2 kg of recyclable material — clearly shifting waste from streets to recycling streams.
The cleanup isn’t just a one-off: Nestlé Nigeria’s Employee Plastics Collection Scheme, launched in 2022, has already diverted 5,922 kg of plastic from landfills. Moreover, Nestlé reports having retrieved a remarkable 61,000 tonnes of plastic across Nigeria since 2019. These figures underscore a serious, sustained intervention — it’s not just a cleanup; it’s a year-round commitment.
The environmental payoff is immediate and tangible: cleaner storm drains, less community litter, reduced flooding risk, and safer public spaces in busy markets. These local impacts ripple outward — clean streets promote public health and inspire collective pride in the neighbourhood.
Beyond that, the circular economy was put into practice: by partnering with FBRA, Alef Recycling, Wecyclers, Chanja Datti, and MECOM, Nestlé ensured all sorted recyclables reentered the value chain — turning waste into new resources. Market traders, local authorities, and citizens observed and took part in the cleanup, triggering real behaviour change. Nestlé Cares volunteers reported deeper ownership for the spaces they live in, reinforcing sustainability as personal responsibility — not just corporate messaging.
This cleanup ties neatly to broader shifts: it aligns with global pushes for an international treaty to eliminate plastic pollution by 2040 and Nigeria’s plastic bag ban efforts. As a core member of FBRA and Ghana’s GRIPE, Nestlé Nigeria drives sector‑wide changes that feed national recycling infrastructure. Its replicable activation framework — city‑specific planning, clear metrics, community liaisons — can extend to other industries, pushing the nation beyond symbolic gestures to routinised action.
Alignment with Nestlé’s Sustainability Goals
This 11‑city clean‑up is not an isolated corporate social responsibility stunt—it slots directly into Nestlé’s bigger sustainability roadmap, both globally and locally.
Globally, Nestlé has made bold commitments: to achieve net‑zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, to make 100% of its packaging recyclable or reusable by 2025, and to reduce the use of virgin plastics by one‑third by 2025. These pledges stem from growing consumer demand, regulatory pressure, and the urgent reality of climate change.
Locally in Nigeria, these goals have been given practical life. The company is a founding member of the Food and Beverage Recycling Alliance, which orchestrates collective industry action to recover and recycle packaging waste. Since 2019, Nestlé Nigeria reports that it has helped retrieve more than 61,000 tonnes of plastics from the environment—evidence that its sustainability promise has moved far beyond paper.
The Employee Plastics Collection Scheme complements this. Launched in 2022, it encourages Nestlé staff to bring used plastic bottles from home for collection and recycling at dedicated drop‑off points within company premises. This internal system has already diverted nearly 6,000 kilograms of plastics from dumpsites, building a culture of waste sorting and recycling within the workforce itself.
The World Environment Day clean‑up dovetails perfectly with these initiatives. By choosing high‑traffic markets and drain‑clogged neighbourhoods, Nestlé addresses immediate local waste challenges while reinforcing its bigger push towards a circular economy. Every kilogram of waste collected, sorted, and recycled feeds directly into its broader commitment to keep plastics out of nature and back in productive loops.
Moreover, by partnering with local recyclers and informal waste collectors, Nestlé supports Nigeria’s emerging recycling sector—an industry that, if properly scaled, could generate thousands of jobs and cut the waste crisis significantly.
Ultimately, these combined efforts position Nestlé not just as a food and beverage giant but as a key driver of sustainability in Nigeria’s private sector. It shows that large corporations can blend global climate pledges with local realities in ways that create measurable environmental and social value.
Challenges and Future Roadmap
While Nestlé’s 11‑city clean‑up is an encouraging milestone, the road to a cleaner Nigeria still faces tough challenges.
First, there is the sheer scale of the waste problem. Nigeria’s urban centres produce millions of tonnes of solid waste every year. A single day of volunteer clean‑up, however impactful, can’t match the daily tide of litter if waste management systems remain underfunded and poorly enforced.
Second, recycling infrastructure is still in its infancy in many Nigerian cities. Outside of Lagos and Abuja, many towns lack robust collection points or formal recyclers. This gap means that, even when residents separate their waste, there is often no efficient way to transport recyclables to proper processors.
Third, public behaviour must evolve. Decades of indiscriminate dumping and weak enforcement have normalised littering in many communities. Changing this culture takes time, persistent education, and incentives for households and businesses to sort and hand over recyclables instead of burning or dumping them.
For Nestlé, the lessons from this clean‑up point clearly to next steps:
Scale Up Local Partnerships: Deepen alliances with city councils, informal waste pickers, and recycling startups to expand collection coverage beyond markets and commercial areas into residential neighbourhoods.
Invest in Infrastructure: Support or co‑invest in more drop‑off hubs, sorting centres, and upcycling plants so that separated waste doesn’t end up in dumpsites due to logistical failures.
Yes, challenges remain—plastic infrastructure gaps, public behaviour change, and scaling up. But Nestlé’s future roadmap is clear: strengthen recycling systems, continue consistent education, invest in packaging innovation, and champion policy enforcement under Nigeria’s Extended Producer Responsibility framework.
In the end, this was not just an 11-city event—it was the beginning of a deeper, sustained movement. Nestlé Nigeria has set a practical template: data-driven, community-rooted, and robust enough for replication by other companies and communities nationwide.
For everyday Nigerians, it’s proof that corporate sustainability can leap off glossy reports and onto the streets where people live and trade. For policymakers, it’s an open invitation to build supportive systems. And for all of us, it’s a reminder that every bottle, every bin, every clean-up day is a step towards the thriving, waste-free environment we all want to call home.
