Name: Nestlé on trial over plastic dumps in France
Uploaded: 2025-11-24T18:15:05.232Z
Duration: 1 min 26 s
Description: Nestlé Waters is on trial over illegal plastic dumps in France’s Vosges region, where buried waste has caused massive microplastic pollution and raised fears for local water sources.

Nestlé Waters is on trial over illegal plastic dumps in France’s Vosges region, where buried waste has caused massive microplastic pollution and raised fears for local water sources.

Vosges

Nestlé is under legal scrutiny in France following the discovery of several illegal plastic waste dumps in the Vosges region, including a site in Thays-su-Montfort containing 42,000 cubic meters of buried plastic. Investigations ordered by local prosecutors have revealed microplastic concentrations millions of times above normal levels, raising significant environmental concerns.

Environmental groups warn that the buried plastic poses a serious threat to underground water sources, and local officials fear being held responsible if contamination occurs. Nestlé claims the sites date back to before its acquisition of subsidiaries like Vittel and is awaiting official guidance on cleanup. The company was also recently implicated in a French Senate inquiry for allegedly mislabeling products as natural mineral water.

Nestlé on trial over plastic dumps in France

Here, in Thays-su-Montfort, one of Nestlé Water's illegal dump sites, 42,000 cubic meters of plastic waste lie buried underground. A disaster waiting to happen, according to environmental groups. This plastic must be removed at all costs, because it is a time bomb that will pollute our underground water sources when it decomposes. It's a real catastrophe. The investigation, ordered by Nancy's public prosecutor's office, revealed the level of microplastics to be several million times higher than normal. In France's northeastern Vosges region, three other illegal dump sites filled with plastic bottles near Nestlé Water's sites are under investigation. Among them is Saint-Ouen-les-Pareils. If these landfills ever leak, where will all the waste that come out of them go? The day or days when the waste enters our drinking water, it's not the prefecture, it's not the state, it's not Nestlé that will be held responsible, it's the mayor. Nestlé says the sites, which contain water bottles dating back to the 1960s, belong to subsidiaries like Vittel, before being acquired by them. The corporation says it's waiting for direction from authorities on how to best clean the remaining sites. This is far from the first time Nestlé's been in trouble with the law. Earlier this year, a French Senate inquiry found that the company profited from alleged consumer fraud, falsely advertising its products, including Perrier, as natural mineral water.

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