Unilever has announced the launch of a new public-private collaboration, which focuses on scaling packaging circularity and reducing plastic waste.
Co-founded by Unilever, USAID, and EY, the The CIRCLE Alliance initiative was introduced in June this year. The initiative has committed $21m to support small businesses and entrepreneurs in the plastics value chain.
The alliance aims to drive solutions for reducing plastic use, managing waste, and fostering circular economies, with a particular emphasis on empowering women in the informal waste sector in the global south.
Unilever chief sustainability officer Rebecca Marmot said: “CIRCLE’s collaborative model of enterprise acceleration – delivered through a mix of grant funding and bespoke business support – will help scale both new and existing solutions for packaging circularity, whether that’s driving collection and recycling, or reuse–refill models.
“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.”
Initially focusing on India, Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines, CIRCLE plans to extend its reach by attracting new partners and additional investment.
The initiative builds upon the successful strategies of the TRANSFORM enterprise accelerator, led by Unilever, the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, and EY.
Unilever's contribution to CIRCLE includes a financial commitment from its Climate & Nature Fund, which is part of a €1bn investment by 2030 aimed at driving systemic change and business benefits.
Furthermore, the company is investing in Circulate Capital’s Ocean Fund to enhance investment and infrastructure in regions heavily impacted by ocean plastic pollution, such as South and South-East Asia, and Latin America.
Unilever has already reduced its virgin plastic use by 18% against a 2019 baseline.
The company also claimed to increase its use of recycled plastic to 22% of our global portfolio.
