Nestlé (Malaysia) Bhd will roll out paper straws for its Milo UHT 125ml drink packs in the fourth quarter of this year, which will avoid the usage of 40 million plastic straws per year and make it the first food and beverage company in Malaysia to introduce paper straws for packaged drinks.

It also plans to switch to paper straws for its other Milo UHT variants in phases with the ultimate objective of eliminating over 200 million plastic straws a year, chief executive officer Juan Aranols said in a statement today.

“This is the latest of our contributions to Nestlé’s pledge to make our packaging 100 percent recyclable or reusable by 2025. This is all part of our commitment to continue searching aggressively for solutions in our on-going War on Plastic Waste," he said.

Nestlé Malaysia has in place many initiatives in its War on Plastic Waste and is continuously developing environmentally-friendly solutions.

As a result, two-thirds of its total plastic packaging is currently designed for recycling, it said.

It also continues to co-develop and test new environmentally friendly packaging materials and systems together with development centres, suppliers, research institutions and start-ups.