Nestlé Waters’ Kim Jeffery and Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute’s Bridgett Luther
“Green is Good” welcomes Nestlé Waters’ Kim Jeffery and Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute’s Bridgett Luther to discuss their green initiatives.
Kim Jeffery, President and CEO, Nestlé Waters North America
When Nestlé Waters North America President and CEO Kim Jeffery started at the company three decades ago, the bottled water industry generated about $250 million per year. These days, it generates approximately $11 billion annually. As bottled beverages’ popularity increased in a society increasingly on the go, sustainability quickly became an issue. That has not since wavered.
Jeffery points to the company’s initial brand acquisition, Poland Spring, as the moment when he knew sustainability would be integral in the company’s lasting profitability: “From the very first day, the future success of that business is totally dependent on managing the resource [Poland Springs’ watershed] for quality and sustainability,” he recalls. “We became environmental stewards the day we bought that business. It’s really in our DNA to think from an environmental standpoint first.”
Today, Nestlé Waters has blossomed into a mutibrand company with 10 LEED-certified facilities — nine either Silver or Gold certified. Perhaps more importantly, over the past six years, Nestlé Waters has reduced its packaging by more than 40% — approximately a 20% reduction in the company’s overall carbon footprint.
Bridgett Luther, President, Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute
“Cradle to cradle,” a products design movement that began in the early 1990s, aims to end consumers’ dependence on landfilling products at the end of their life cycles. The goal, simply, is to design and manufacture products that are made from infinitely useful materials that are able to be recycled again and again. The Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute, started in 2010, acts as a certification system for these products.
The institute gives manufacturers the opportunity to study the entire environmental impact of their products, from creation, to production, useful life and obsolescence. Bridgett Luther, President of the institute, brings a career’s worth of environmental protection and conservation expertise to the institute.
“The cradle to cradle certification process is a journey,” Luther explains. “As you go with your company through this process, you actually start to change the way you look at your product design. As companies go through this process, they will see that a lot of what they are making isn’t that safe or healthy.”
