Swiss food giant Nestlé has announced its commitment to achieve zero waste in all of its 150 European factories by 2020.
The environmental sustainability pledge was made at a European Policy Centre event on food sustainability in Brussels, Belgium.
The company said that no factory waste will go to landfill or be burned without energy being recovered from the process.
Nestlé executive vice president and Europe zone director Laurent Freixe said the decision to achieve zero waste illustrates Nestlé's commitment to environmentally sustainable business practices.
He added, "We already have over 25 factories in Europe that do not dispose of waste into the environment.
"By relentlessly eliminating all sources of waste, or by recycling or recovering energy from unavoidable residues, I am convinced we can achieve the same for all our European operations."
Nestlé already achieved zero waste in all of its factories in the UK and Switzerland, with first factory to reduce the waste generated was the KitKat and Aero confectionery factory in the UK city of York in 2011.
By the end of 2012, the company achieved zero waste status in 39 of its 468 factories worldwide.
