Nature on credit

Two weeks ago, we entered ecological debt. It was the first piece of news I heard that morning, and one that shook me for the umpteenth time — but even more so now that I have become a grandmother. In other words, in less than five months we used up all the resources that nature can renew in a year, meaning that we are now living at the expense of future generations.

We are all “to blame” for this: industry, the relevant institutions, and consumers themselves — that is, us citizens. But now we are talking about the responsibility of industry, or rather, manufacturers.

In large corporations, establishing a sustainable supply chain is especially important, precisely because of the broad impact global businesses have on the environment. However, it is an extremely complex — and, I can freely say, costly — process that requires the involvement of all departments, close cooperation with the authorities, and the education of end users.

At Nestlé, our mission is to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, and that journey encompasses every stage of our operations: agriculture, logistics, production, packaging, distribution, retail, consumption... I am often asked why we include the cultivation of raw materials in this chain when it does not take place within the Nestlé system, but rather with external suppliers. The answer is because we consider it our responsibility to make the entire life cycle of our products sustainable.

This brings us to agriculture, which contributes as much as around 70 percent of emissions in this chain. In other words, its impact is twice as great as everything that subsequently takes place in our facilities, further distribution, and consumption. We have found a solution, and Serbia is one of the countries where Nestlé has launched this project: regenerative agriculture.

Although the term is now already familiar, when we started the project five years ago it was met with distrust among suppliers, and even fear of the unknown. Over time, and through joint cooperation, we developed projects applying sustainable agrotechnical methods such as reduced tillage and “strip-till” technology, which require GPS-guided tractors; sowing cover crops; the use of organic fertilizers; drones for mapping fields; agricultural drones for plant protection operations; and robotics used for vegetable sowing and mechanical weed control. The aim is to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and improve soil structure. We also support suppliers in optimizing crop rotation and adapting production to local climate conditions, which is crucial for yield stability. Since the launch of the initiative, Nestlé Serbia has invested more than three million Swiss francs in the regenerative agriculture program, working with suppliers of raw materials for products from our local factory in Surčin.
It is logical that production is the next major “stumbling block” after raw material cultivation. However, in this area too, we have been gradually improving our processes, and since 2019 the Serbian Nestlé factory has operated as a Zero Waste to Landfill facility. In practice, this means that everything generated as a by-product — whether organic, packaging, or industrial waste — goes through a recycling process with our operator or is used to produce organic fertilizer or biofuel, while one of our partners uses leftover foil to make eco-insulation panels.

The question we must ask is: what are we leaving to the generations to come — culture and innovation, or waste and pollution? Sustainability demands urgent implementation not only in industry, but also in the most basic everyday actions: to stop throwing litter in the street, to avoid creating excess food in our kitchens, and so on, all the way to its implementation in laws, sanctions, incentives...

The grace period passed long ago, and nature cannot keep running on credit for much longer.