Nestle and Waitrose make vastly different commitments on packaging pollution

Nestle has announced it aims to produce 100% recyclable and re-usable plastic packaging by 2025, while Waitrose said it intends to phase out all disposable coffee cups by the autumn.

Nestlé CEO Mark Schneider acknowledged plastic waste is one of the biggest sustainability issues the world is facing today and said the Swiss company, which owns the San Pellegrino, Vittel and Perrier mineral water brands among its giant portfolio of food and drinks products, was "committed to finding improved solutions to reduce, re-use and recycle".

But the distant seven-year deadline did not impress environmentalists much.

"As the largest food and drink company in the world Nestle should be leading on sustainable packaging, but their new commitments lack ambition," said Louise Edge, senior oceans campaigner at Greenpeace UK, adding that Nestle "needs to do more to move the needle towards the elimination of problem plastic".

Greenpeace noted that, on average, across the world a full rubbish-truck load of plastic enters the ocean every minute.

"Huge multinationals selling plastic products need to play a bigger part in turning the tide," Edge said. "Nestle should remove non-recyclable plastic far sooner than 2025, and phase out all single-use plastic packaging."

Waitrose's measure to stop serving beverages in plastic cups will save 52m cups a year from being thrown away, the supermarket said, looking to help reduce the near-2.5bn coffee cups that are thrown away just in the UK each year.

The supermarket, which is part of John Lewis Partnership, assured consumers will still be able to get coffee and tea to go but they will have to bring their own reusable cup. The decision comes into effect by the end of April where Waitrose will have removed cups from nine stores across the UK.

Tor Harris, head of sustainability at the supermarket, said: "We realise this is a major change, but we ... are confident the majority of customers will support the environmental benefits."

“It underlines our commitment to plastic and packaging reduction and our aim is to deliver this as quickly as possible," he added.

Other companies like Starbucks are also considering implementing measures to combat pollution. The American coffee giant has already introduced a 5p levy on disposable plastic cups.