Money for Circular Economy

Huhtamaki and WasteAid announce a global partnership to drive community-level circular economy innovations in key locations.

The global active Finnish packaging company Huhtamaki and UK-based international charity WasteAid have announced a 900,000 Euro partnership “to drive community-level circular economy innovation in Vietnam, India and South Africa for a two-year period”. To mark its 100th anniversary, Huhtamaki is also donating three million Euro to global sustainability initiatives with a local impact – acting today, educating for tomorrow and funding innovation for the future, “making a difference where it matters most to help address global sustainability challenges and build circular economy initiatives”.

According to Huhtamaki, its funded project “will provide financial support to WasteAid to deliver education and training on waste management and circular systems. It will enable WasteAid to work with key stakeholders in Johannesburg (South Africa), Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam) and Guwahati (Assam, India) to fast-track and amplify local solutions that create value and reduce waste and pollution, in line with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.”

Huhtamaki, a global player in sustainable food-on-the-go and food-on-the-shelf packaging solutions, “chose to partner with WasteAid as it is already making a positive impact on plastic pollution. An illustration of this is their project in West Africa, where trainees are turning plastic waste into useful products like paving tiles. Very quickly the local team prevented a million plastic bags from being burned or reaching the ocean,” Charles Héaulmé, President and CEO of the packaging producer, is cited. “We will be learning from our partnership with WasteAid and will share our insights with global stakeholders as part of our sustainability journey to deliver on our 2030 strategy.”

The project
WasteAid, which was set up by waste management professionals to tackle the global waste crisis, would bring its expertise in sustainable waste management to share skills, develop business ideas and create end-markets for recyclable materials, driving innovation and developing a new generation of green entrepreneurs locally, a press release said. “The two-year program will be focused on educating diverse local communities via a cloud-based learning platform, networking events, training programs, and will seek to inspire innovative sustainable solutions through local innovation competitions.”

www.huhtamaki.com
www.wasteaid.org

(GR22020, Page 17, Photo: congerdesign / Pixabay)