Nestle to Establish a Tree Planting Project in the Different Mexican States
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Nestle SA will be starting a reforestation campaign of planting more than 3 million trees. The target location of the tree planting project is in Mexico. The company plans to start the project a year and a half from now. This project aims to affect carbon neutrality by 2020, says an article from Yahoo Finance. 

Corporate Social Responsibility for Carbon Emissions

Nestle adds to the list of large corporations taking ambitious goals involving the reduction of carbon emissions. These goals are often carried out by big companies due to the increasing demand of stakeholders to combat climate change. 

Nestle's products include KitKat Chocolate, Poland Spring bottled water, Nescafe coffee, and Cheerios Cereal. The company had signed an agreement with the United Nations. The agreement includes a target of controlling and minimizing the rise of temperature. Also, it included a promise of transforming the business processes of the company to prioritize renewable energy, carbon absorption, and substitute packaging materials. 

The Plan for the Reforestation Project

The cost of planting one tree is $1 to $15. The forecasted cost of planting will total $45 million. This total is not inclusive of the other expenses needed to accomplish the tree planting project. 

The Chief Executive for the Americas of Nestle, Laurent Freixe, said the project is the beginning of the many efforts of the company to help protect the environment, especially in places like Mexico. The company gets dairy products, cocoa, sugar, and coffee in Mexico.

 According to Freixe, there is a need to invest in the protection of the environment to sustain the economy of Mexico and the business operations of Nestle in the country. Additionally, there is a need to improve biodiversity in the country.

Collaboration with One Tree Planted

Currently, the company is partnering with One Tree Planted, a not-for-profit organization. The company is requesting the assistance of One Tree Planted to determine the type of trees to plant and where to plant them.

The Mexican states of Tabasco and Veracruz are some of the two places targeted by the tree planting project.

The New Coffee Processing Plant in Veracruz

A coffee processing plant of the company will start its operations in October in Veracruz. The first 1 million trees of the project will be enough to capture the carbon emissions of their new coffee processing plant in Veracruz, said the head of operations of Nestle Magdi Batato.

The plant costs the company $154 million to make. It is expected that it will process 20,000 tons of coffee every year. Also, it will directly provide jobs to 250 people. The factory will be created by the company will be an exemplary model of the succeeding factories of Nestle. It aims to use new technologies, new automated features, and clean energy.

Support from President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and His Administration

The president of Mexico Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador had expressed his support to the project of Nestle in 2018. It was the first major investment of the president and his administration. His decision to support Nestle had resulted in direct and indirect work opportunities for many Mexicans. These efforts had made Mexico as Nestle's top coffee supplier.