Nestlé Develops Generative AI Tool to Optimize Sustainable Packaging Development

Nestlé is looking to automate its packaging efforts, focusing on reducing plastics while identifying recyclable materials, such as paper-based and mono-material solutions, that meet a product’s functional needs while still meeting food safety and quality standards. 

To do so, the company has developed a generative AI tool that will help pinpoint high-barrier packaging materials. 

For the effort, the company collaborated with IBM Research to create AI-driven processing techniques to consolidate data about known packaging materials from public and internal documents. The technology then uses a chemical language model that understands the relationships between structural molecular features and physical-chemical properties to output ideas for new packaging materials with improved moisture, temperature and oxygen controls. 

Also: Nestlé USA and other CPGs Shift Away From Synthetic Coloring

The AI-enabled language model will be used to optimize the development of more sustainable packaging solutions across product categories, said Stefan Palzer, Nestlé’s CTO, in a statement.