Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 9) – Global food and beverage brand Nestle Philippines took a big step in achieving its goal of a waste-free future by reaching its plastic neutrality target in the country for the month of August.

Kais Marzouki, chairman and chief executive officer of Nestle Philippines, defined plastic neutrality as Nestle’s action of recovering plastic waste equivalent to the amount of plastic it has used in the packaging of its products.

He said the food and beverage manufacturer has collected around 2,400 metric tons of plastic waste from landfills and oceans last month. He said Nestle is committed to do it every month.

“We are the first multinational company in the Philippines to achieve that,” Marzouki told CNN Philippines’ Rico Hizon on Wednesday’s The Final Word. “We hope that this example will encourage others to join us and to develop plans to have a better future for ourselves and for our children,”

He said he is hopeful other large corporations will adopt Nestle Philippines’ proposed Extended Producer Responsibility Scheme, where large manufacturers using plastic in their product packaging will partner with government and non-governmental organizations to implement waste management programs in communities.

Marzouki also bared that Nestle forged partnerships with several cement companies in the country to convert the collected plastic waste into cement kilns, used in processing hydraulic cement products and alternative fuel.

To respond to the changing times, Marzouki said Nestle is developing environmentally-friendly packaging. This initiative started when the corporation switched from plastic straws to paper straws in the country.

“We consumed on our products 600 million straws every year,” he said. “So this is a significant step to better the environment.”

Nestle also entered a Memorandum of Understanding with the Department of Education to provide modules on waste management for 10,000 schools that will be taught to Grades 1 to 10 students.