Food manufacturer Nestlé has announced its ambition to make all of its packaging recyclable or reusable by 2025.

The company – which employs 330 people at its factory in Dalston, near Carlisle – said it wants none of its packaging, including plastics, to end up in landfill or as litter in response to what it described as an “urgent need to minimize the impact of packaging on the environment”.

Nestlé said it would focus on eliminating non-recyclable plastics, encouraging the use of plastics that allow better recycling rates and either changing or eliminating all together complex combinations of packaging materials.

Nestlé chief executive Mark Schneider said: "Plastic waste is one of the biggest sustainability issues the world is facing today. Tackling it requires a collective approach. We are committed to finding improved solutions to reduce, re-use and recycle.”

Similar pledges have been made by a raft of businesses in recent months as pressure continues to grow from both lobby groups and consumers on the recycling of packaging, in particular single-use plastics.

Fast food chain McDonald's has set the same 2025 deadline for all of its packaging to come from sustainable sources. Its current rate is around 10 per cent.

Meanwhile, major retailers and packaging companies including Amcor, evian, L’Oréal, Mars, M&S, PepsiCo, The Coca-Cola Company, Unilever and Walmart have all pledged to meet the deadline in seven years.

Nestle’s Cumbria factory recently celebrated a world first after developing a new “super sugar” which contains up to 40 per cent less sugar without any loss of taste.