Nestlé, the world’s largest bottled water company, is on trial in eastern France over allegations that it illegally dumped hundreds of thousands of cubic meters of plastic bottles, contaminating soils and water resources in the Vosges region at levels described by authorities as “immeasurable.” The proceedings, before a criminal court in Nancy, mark one of the most high-profile environmental cases involving the food and beverage industry in Europe.
The controversy erupted after Nestlé, in September 2024, agreed to pay a €2 million fine as part of a settlement with French prosecutors, apparently hoping to avoid a court battle over its bottling practices in Vittel, Contrex, and Hépar. That attempt failed. On Monday, March 23, Nestlé Waters Supply Est, a subsidiary of the Swiss multinational, faced a courtroom indictment accusing it of dumping plastic bottles over at least a ten-year period, causing “substantial environmental degradation” and “serious harm to human health,” according to documents reviewed by Le Monde.
Investigators from the French Office for Biodiversity (OFB) recorded microplastic pollution at “exorbitant levels” in Hépar and Contrex springs. According to the OFB, the contamination reached concentrations up to 1.3 million times higher than those measured in the Seine River, translating to what they described as a “spoonful of microplastics per liter of water.” The Nancy prosecutor’s office noted that these findings demonstrate pollution on an “immeasurable scale,” highlighting the potential risks to both aquatic ecosystems and human populations reliant on these waters.
The trial’s opening day was marked by an unexpected procedural twist. Nestlé succeeded in having key searches nullified due to technical errors: an engineering firm assisting investigators had failed to take a required oath, prompting the court to temporarily strike down some of the evidence. Nevertheless, the environmental and public health stakes of the case remain substantial.
The crisis began in 2014 when hikers discovered a mountain of decomposing plastic bottles buried in the Vosges forest near Vittel, directly adjacent to Nestlé’s bottling facilities. Local environmental groups, including Eau 88 and Vosges Nature Environnement, subsequently uncovered multiple illegal dumpsites in Contrexéville, They-sous-Montfort, Saint-Ouen-lès-Parey, and Crainvilliers. By 2021, these associations had alerted municipal authorities, who referred the matter to the Epinal prosecutor. A regional environmental unit in Nancy launched a formal investigation, ultimately identifying nine contaminated sites: five open-air and four buried.
The most infamous of these sites, known locally as “the volcano” in Contrexéville, contained an estimated 346,000 cubic meters of waste, including 250,000 cubic meters of plastics. Across all sites, investigators documented over 302,000 cubic meters of plastic debris—the equivalent of 120 Olympic-sized swimming pools. According to OFB reports, the waste was stored “secretly and covertly,” with no measures to protect the soil or prevent leaching, erosion, or environmental degradation. The decomposition of these materials has allegedly devastated local ecosystems, rendering water bodies biologically lifeless and posing serious risks to human health.
OFB scientists found up to 47,243 microplastic particles per liter in wells near Hépar springs, representing a concentration “30 million times higher” than the Seine River. These microplastics, defined as particles smaller than five millimeters, were described as creating the equivalent of a glass of microplastics per liter—a figure that environmental groups argue is unprecedented in Europe.
Nestlé has strongly contested these findings. Company statements maintain that analyses from accredited laboratories “contradict the hypothesis of the presence of microplastic pollution” at their drilling sites. The corporation insists that the dumps are largely historical, dating to the 1970s when defective bottles were disposed of in pits or burned. Nestlé acquired full ownership of the Vittel Mineral Water Company in 1992, decades after some of the earliest dumping. Sophie Dubois, former president of Nestlé France and director general of Nestlé Waters France, testified before a parliamentary commission in 2021 that the company had known of the dumps since 2014 but only informed authorities seven years later.
Prosecutors argue that Nestlé’s response demonstrates “careless attitude” and a failure to act despite having “financial, technical, and legal means” to remediate the sites. The indictment demands the company fully remove plastic waste from all contaminated areas and impose a proportionate fine for environmental repair, alongside a daily penalty of €3,000 until compliance is achieved.
Local environmental advocates remain unconvinced by Nestlé’s claims of partial remediation. Bernard Schmitt, founder of Eau 88 and president of Vosges Nature Environnement, called the company’s actions “virtually nonexistent” and demanded full evacuation of all polluted sites before Nestlé withdraws from the region. Lawyers representing the associations have requested a supplementary judicial investigation to determine whether Nestlé’s illegal microfiltration systems—revealed in investigations by Le Monde and Radio France—were intended to obscure microplastics in water supplied to consumers. “The debate is not about whether there are a few or many microplastics,” attorney François Zind argued. “When hundreds of cubic meters of plastic waste are buried above a major aquifer, the question is whether the water can still be presented as pure.”
Nestlé, entangled in this scandal and others, has announced plans to sell its water division. The company maintains that seven of the nine dumps have already been cleaned and that remaining sites require extensive environmental studies before remediation. Officials assert that discussions with authorities are ongoing to establish sustainable, long-term solutions.
As the trial unfolds, the case raises broader questions about corporate accountability, environmental oversight, and public trust in multinational corporations. With evidence of massive microplastic contamination and decades-long negligence, the proceedings in Nancy could set a landmark precedent in France—and potentially globally—for holding corporations criminally responsible for large-scale environmental damage.