Closing the Loop: How Nestlé Nigeria and FBRA Are Rewriting the Story of Waste

In the crowded streets of Nigeria’s cities, where population growth and urban expansion collide daily, waste has long been a silent witness to development’s excesses. With the nation’s population projected by the United Nations Population Fund to exceed 237 million by 2025, the by-product of modern life plastic, packaging, and post-consumer waste has become one of Nigeria’s most urgent environmental challenges. 

According to the World Bank, Nigeria generates over 32 million tonnes of solid waste annually, stretching the capacity of city authorities and exposing the limits of traditional waste management systems. But amid the mounting pressure, a quiet revolution is underway as one driven not by government alone, but by industry taking responsibility for its footprint.

At the heart of this shift is Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), a forward-looking policy introduced in 2014 by the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA). The policy redefined accountability by placing responsibility for post-consumer waste squarely on producers. Four years later, in 2018, that vision crystallised into action with the birth of the Food and Beverage Recycling Alliance (FBRA) Nigeria’s first Producer Responsibility Organisation (PRO) for the food and beverage sector.

What began as a coalition of just four founding companies has grown into a powerful alliance of 49 member organisations as of November 2025, united by a shared mission: to recover, recycle, and reintegrate packaging waste into Nigeria’s economy. Collectively, FBRA has facilitated the recovery of over 100,000 metric tonnes of plastic waste, redefining waste not as an environmental burden but as a valuable resource within a circular economy.

“FBRA may not be a household name on the streets,” says Victoria Uwadoka, Corporate Communications, Public Affairs and Sustainability Lead at Nestlé Nigeria, “but its impact is visible in cleaner communities and in the livelihoods of empowered waste collectors, especially across Lagos State.”

Among FBRA’s most committed champions is Nestlé Nigeria, one of the country’s largest and most trusted food and beverage companies. For Nestlé, sustainability is not a corporate slogan; it is a business principle rooted in the belief that long-term success must balance people, profit, and planet.

As one of FBRA’s founding members, Nestlé Nigeria has consistently translated policy into practice. Even as competitors in the marketplace, producers within FBRA collaborate as environmental partners, a rare but powerful alignment of interests.

“Though as producers we compete commercially,” Uwadoka explains, “we unite as collaborators when it comes to fulfilling shared environmental responsibilities.”

That collaboration has produced milestones few companies in Nigeria can claim. In December 2023, Nestlé Nigeria achieved 100 percent plastic neutrality, recovering and recycling every tonne of plastic it introduced into the market. The achievement marked a decisive shift from intention to accountability, proving that producer responsibility can be both measurable and meaningful.

Nestlé also broke new ground in packaging innovation, becoming the first company in Nigeria to incorporate 50 percent recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET) into its Nestlé Pure Life water bottles fully compliant with the Standards Organisation of Nigeria’s food-grade packaging regulations. In an industry where consistency often lags ambition, Nestlé’s sustained commitment to circularity stands apart.

Through FBRA’s structured framework, producers like Nestlé have helped activate an entire waste value chain linking collectors, aggregators, recyclers, and manufacturers in a system where plastic does not end its journey in gutters or oceans, but re-enters production cycles as raw material.

“The manufacturers do not produce plastics to litter the streets,” Uwadoka notes. “Consumers discard them, but through FBRA’s system, that waste is recovered, creating jobs, income, and value in the process.”

For Nestlé, the philosophy is simple but profound: every recovered bottle is one less threat to the environment.

“Every bottle that is taken out and doesn’t end up in the ocean is one bottle less of a problem,” she says. “Closing the loop is key. Circularity is the destination. It’s not just about collection, it’s about using, collecting, transforming, and reusing.”

The partnership between Nestlé Nigeria and FBRA is a compelling example of what industry led collaboration can achieve when responsibility replaces indifference. Together, they are not only addressing Nigeria’s waste crisis but aligning local action with global sustainability goals.

As FBRA continues to strengthen the bridge between producers and recyclers, and Nestlé Nigeria pushes the boundaries of environmental stewardship, one truth becomes clear: building a cleaner, more sustainable Nigeria is a collective journey and the loop is finally beginning to close.