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Unilever Announces Circle Alliance Grant to Combat Plastic Pollution

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Unilever’s long-term ambition is to end plastic pollution through reduction, circulation, and collaboration. By addressing these critical areas, Unilever aims to significantly reduce its environmental footprint and promote a circular economy for plastics.

Unilever’s refocused sustainability goals anchored on four pillars such as climate, nature, plastics and livelihoods

Reducing Virgin Plastic Use

Unilever is doubling down on key issues such as reducing the use of virgin plastic in its packaging and developing solutions for hard-to-recycle flexible plastic materials, including sachets.

There has been significant progress – the organization has reduced its virgin plastic use by 18% against a 2019 baseline as well as trialed a variety of reuse and refill models around the world.

Circulating Plastics

Unilever is also dedicated to promoting a circular economy for plastics. This involves designing all plastic packaging to be reusable, recyclable, or compostable. By keeping plastics in the economy and out of the environment, Unilever aims to create a sustainable loop that minimizes waste and maximizes resource efficiency. And as of December 2023, Unilever has increased its use of recycled plastic to 22% of its global portfolio.

Parallel to its efforts on shifting to sustainable packaging materials, Unilever Philippines continues its efforts on education and waste collection through its flagship program, Misis Walastik. This program operates in Metro Manila and nearby provinces, aiming to educate communities about proper solid waste management using an incentive scheme that puts value on flexible plastic waste. This complements the company’s dedication to deliver beyond the recovery mandates set by the Extended Producers responsibility Law enacted in 2022.

A Unilever team member engaging with a waste worker
The Unilever team engaging and supporting waste worker partners from Cavite at a recent Walastik (Wise on Plastic) Education Session

Collaborating for Greater Impact

Recognizing that collaboration is key to achieving these goals, Unilever continues to partner with various organizations to amplify its impact. One of the most notable collaborations is the CIRCLE Alliance, founded in partnership with USAID and EY. This alliance supports entrepreneurs and small businesses across the plastics value chain, with a strong focus on:

  • Women’s economic empowerment: Providing resources and opportunities for women to succeed in the business world.
  • Improving livelihoods: Enhancing the quality of life for individuals involved in the plastics value chain.
  • Environmental protection: Reducing plastic waste and promoting sustainable practices.

Grant Opportunities through the CIRCLE Alliance

The CIRCLE Alliance is currently seeking grant applications from qualified entities with relevant experience. These grants aim to support innovative and applicable approaches to improving waste collection and processing (C&P). The focus is on reducing and diverting waste from the environment while implementing gender-responsive approaches. This includes actively improving the livelihoods and human rights of waste collectors and empowering women collectors and entrepreneurs, particularly in the Philippines.

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.

Rebecca Marmot, Chief Sustainability Officer and a member of the Unilever Leadership Council
A group photo of the 250 waste workers joining the Unilever team
With over 250 waste workers joining the Unilever team during its first ever Walastik (“Wise on Plastic”) Education Session, Unilever keeps the momentum up for a fair and just circular economy for plastic – now augmented by the CIRCLE Alliance.

In the Philippines, the ‘Request for Application’ (RFA) period has recently opened, with submissions due by 04 October 2024, at 17:00 Eastern Standard Time (EST). Click here to view the application form and for more information about the grant.

To assist potential applicants, the CIRCLE Alliance is hosting two informational webinars:

The CIRCLE Alliance Informational Webinar #1 (click to register)

The CIRCLE Alliance Informational Webinar #2 (click to register)
  • Date: Monday, September 16, 2024
  • Time: 06:00 Washington, DC / 18:00 Manila
  • Duration: 90 minutes
  • Date: Tuesday, September 24, 2024
  • Time: 22:00 Washington, DC (Monday, September 23) / 10:00 Manila
  • Duration: 90 minutes

For inquiries about the RFA and webinars, please send an email to circlegrants@resonanceglobal.com.

The momentum behind solutions and collaborations to help fix the plastic waste issue is gaining even more speed. With the CIRCLE Alliance across Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam, Unilever is putting its expertise and networks to help build a fair and equitable circular economy for plastics in these countries and hopefully across larger Southeast Asia.

Rondell Torres Philippines Sustainability Lead; Circle Alliance Lead for Southeast Asia
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