Unilever understands the risks and dangers of plastic waste to the environment. As such, it has identified plastic as one of their four sustainability priorities in the company’s Growth Action Plan. Unilever is working towards reducing its use of virgin plastic and coming up with solutions for hard-to-recycle flexible plastic packaging materials.
The multinational FMCG giant has partnered with USAID and EY for the CIRCLE Alliance – $21 million public-private collaboration. It supports entrepreneurs and small businesses across the plastics value chain to scale solutions that reduce plastic use, tackle plastic waste, and build thriving circular economies.
Rebecca Marmot, Chief Sustainability Officer at Unilever, said CIRCLE’s collaborative model of enterprise acceleration is delivered through a mix of grant funding and bespoke business support. “This will scale both new and existing solutions for packaging circularity, whether that’s driving collection and recycling, or reuse-refill models,” she said. “Crucially, it will support many small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and entrepreneurs that offer impactful, market-based solutions but are currently too small to work at the scale we need.”
CIRCLE’s initial focus is on India, Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines. It will expand to other markets through new organizations and additional funds.
Samantha Power, USAID Administrator, said the CIRCLE Alliance brings together USAID’s experience in empowering women in plastic waste value chains and their long-standing relationships with national and local governments. “Unilever has unrivaled knowledge of, and an unrivaled role in, plastic supply chains. EY brings experience in providing professional support to help businesses grow and thrive.”
Gillian Hinde, EY Global Corporate Responsibility Leader, believes there’s an urgent need for collective action to enable a circular economy for plastic across the global south. “We aim to support impact entrepreneurs as they incubate innovation and scale market-based solutions to the issue of plastic pollution while generating jobs that respect waste workers’ human rights.”
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