Like every year, on April 22 the International Mother Earth Day and it is an important moment to rethink as citizens and organizations what we are doing to care for and preserve the most important thing we have and that we are going to leave to the new generations: our planet Earth. All the activities we carry out, as people, as an industry, have an impact on ecosystems, and today we have the keys to become aware of how we can have a positive footprint on our environment.
One way to generate a positive impact is by reducing losses and food waste also known as PDAs. In the year 2019, there were 931 million tons of food wasted, according to the report “Food Waste Index 2021“performed by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and the British waste organization WRAP.
Therefore, it is everyone’s responsibility to prevent food losses and waste through programs and alliances that benefit our ecosystems and therefore our Earth.
In Mondelēz International We seek to produce snacks in the correct way, with the intelligent and sustainable use of raw materials in our operations to achieve a positive impact. Worldwide, most of the company’s plants have the status zero waste to landfill (zero waste to landfill) and by 2025 we have set a goal of halving food waste in our operations globally.
What are we doing at Mondelēz Mexico? Within the company, in 2020 we met the goal of 20% reduction of total waste in manufacturing, our commitment for 2025 is to reduce food waste by 15%.
For more than 9 years, we have had a national alliance for product donation with the Network of Food Banks of Mexico (BAMX) and food for all (APT). These institutions support food insecure people by delivering food and other basic products. In 2021, Mondelēz Mexico donated 140 tons of product to banks that benefited more than 350,000 Mexicans.
We are a winning snack company that grows with purpose; We are leading an accelerated transformation, including the processes related to the promotion of a sustainable value chain. For this reason, as of 2021 we have within the company a specific area dedicated to waste management, from where we carry out awareness-raising work with different areas, to achieve optimal handling of materials, which helps us to have better control in our processes to reduce waste.
With the aim of going further and, in line with our value of “Doing the right thing”, in October 2021 we joined the pact for food, an initiative that seeks to reduce food loss and waste in Mexico by 50% by 2030 through the commitment to make our production and logistics processes more efficient to make food donations. The initiative is based on Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and in Latin America, Mexico is the first country to implement the Voluntary Agreementsfocused on establishing commitments and actions to reduce food loss and waste.
These actions are aligned with our goal of zero waste and support for the communities because, in addition to helping to reduce waste, we are helping to reduce food insecurity among the vulnerable population. The plans do not stop and we will continue to strengthen these actions hand in hand with our partners of business by simplifying our processes.
Today more than ever, companies must make it a priority to generate actions that have a positive impact on the communities where we are present. At Mondelēz Mexico we are celebrating 95 years with a presence in the country with the M of Mexico well placed. Nobody makes snacks like us and we are proud to have a clear vision to continue growing with purpose and generating value in the communities we serve.
Santiago Aguilera, Director of Corporate and Government Affairs for Mondelēz Mexico and Latin America
