Huhtamaki, WasteAid to boost community-level circular economy

The Huhtamaki funded project will provide financial support to WasteAid to deliver education and training on waste management and circular systems.

It will also enable WasteAid to work with stakeholders in Johannesburg (South Africa), Ho Chi Minh city (Vietnam) and Guwahati (Assam, India) to fast-track local solutions that create value and reduce waste and pollution.

Charles Heaulme, president and CEO, Huhtamaki, said, “We want to make a difference, where it matters most. We want to support local communities concretely, by providing education and training on waste management and circular systems. Delivering on our ambitious sustainability agenda requires collaboration across the value chain.”

During the project, WasteAid will leverage its sustainable waste management expertise to develop business ideas and create end-markets for recyclable materials. The two-year programme will focus on educating diverse local communities via a cloud-based learning platform, networking events, training programmes and local innovation competitions.

Ray Georgeson, interim executive support at WasteAid has been assigned to manage the partnership until a dedicated project director is appointed.

Ceris Turner-Bailes, WasteAid chief executive said, “The shift towards a circular economy offers vast potential for global development and we are proud to be at the forefront of that change. Our partnership with Huhtamaki offers the opportunity for greater impact and is a huge milestone in our development as an organisation. We’re delighted to be working with the Huhtamaki team and look forward to delivering this groundbreaking initiative over the coming two years.”

“We chose to partner with WasteAid as it is already making a positive impact on plastic pollution. An illustration of this is its 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. A year after, 55 families continue to collect, sort and process plastic waste, reducing pollution and carbon emissions and protecting the health of their community in Gunjur, Gambia. 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,” added Heaulme.

The programme is expected to help communities affected by poor waste management by developing alternatives to dumping and burning of household waste, reduce health problems and builds stronger local economies.