Creating an environmentally sustainable food factory: A case study of the Lighthouse project at Nestlé

Many manufacturing companies recognise the need to produce products that are cleaner, greener, and environmentally sustainable, yet they are only at the early stages of this transition in addressing the symptoms of unsustainability at their direct operations by reducing waste and the use of energy, water and material. The implementation of reductions in these areas can be disparate and minimal given the life cycle of a product. Bridging the gap between the rhetoric of sustainable manufacturing and reality requires a holistic, systems thinking approach to ensure the implementation of sustainability is unified and strategic. This paper presents a novel environmentally sustainable manufacturing framework that encompasses energy, water, waste, biodiversity, and people & community. It adopts a systems thinking perspective to address the factories ‘environmental life cycle impact to deliver factory and supply chain benefits. The insights from the application at a Nestlé confectionery factory are reported.