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Nestlé SA full reports

Full Environmental Record

Nestlé has announced that all new manufacturing facilities in the United States will be LEED certified. This only addresses environmental concerns in the US, but Nestlé has operations that span worldwide, and the company has not released any information regarding improvements at any other facilities. Nestlé is also committed to reducing waste as much as possible, by recycling and reusing waste water used in intermediary stages of production. The corporation's goals are to reduce carbon intensity by 20% by 2013, as well as to support groundwater legislation. The Nestlé Water Management Report shows the reduction of water use in the manufacturing of Nestlé products, including Nestlé Waters. Additionally, Nestlé Waters supports the water conservation efforts of various organizations, such as The Nature Conservancy and Project WET. Nevertheless, as one of the largest producers of water products worldwide, Nestlé Waters needs to accomplish a lot more to reduce water waste and to ensure that water is used in a responsible manner. Although Nestlé has made efforts to reduce its carbon footprint through innovations, for instance, applying the fuel cell system to lift trucks, the corporation should expand its research and use of renewable energy at the other facilities as well.

Full Social Record

Nestlé has been engaged in questionable practices for quite some time. During the 80's, it was frowned on by the international community for misguiding many third world citizens that the baby formula from Nestlé was better than breast milk, prompting a worldwide boycott. Research has shown that little, if any, change has been made to these policies. Nestlé is still being accused of bestowing gifts to doctors so they can recommend the baby formula, as well as giving it away for free or "forgetting to collect payment." There have been a myriad of reports on anti-union activity, such as the arbitrary closing of factories where workers attempted to unionize, the use of intimidation and even the killing of union leaders. Additionally, incidents of forced child labor have been reported. Watchdog groups have harshly criticized Nestlé for not using fair trade cocoa or coffee, even though the corporation has one of the highest profit margins in the industry for its coffee. Governments have also placed a keen interest in the nature of Nestlé's competitive practices, particularly in the areas of price fixing. Nestlé has had episodes of food contamination concerning baby milk products and prepackaged cookie dough. Because Nestlé is stalling to eliminate genetically engineered ingredients in China and Thailand, it has been accused of applying double standards, but after a decade, Nestlé still has not done much to improve this matter.