GOLD
Kelpi: Turning the Tide on Plastic Packaging.
Only 9% of plastic gets recycled globally, and there are more than 86 million tonnes of plastics in our oceans. More than 99% of plastics are currently produced from chemicals derived from oil, natural gas, and coal – all of which are non-renewable resources.
Kelpi is on a mission to tackle plastic pollution through the development of biomaterials made from seaweed and other natural and renewable resources, that can not only match but even exceed the performance of fossil fuel plastic alternatives. Kelpi’s material has an excellent long-term water and acid barrier, achieved through sustainable and novel chemical functionalisation. Kelpi’s material is applied as a coating to paper, card, and other fibre substrates, meaning it is certified recyclable, compostable, and marine-safe at end of life, and is adaptable to address specific product requirements defined by our clients, for example to package a range of commercial products, including dry, wet, liquid, acidic and greasy products.
Kelpi is targeting large FMCGs in food & drink, home & personal care, who’s ambitious sustainability targets for packaging can be resolved through Kelpi’s solutions.
SILVER
Green Boom: Pioneering a holistic Oil to Soil clean-up solution.
Historically, oil spill cleanup has mainly been done with polypropylene-based absorbents, aka single-use plastic, made using traditional manufacturing processes that cause land and water pollution. Each competitor’s 10lb. boom is the equivalent of 3,000 plastic straws. Though seldom talked about, this creates a plastic waste issue, generating 8,000 tons of oil-soaked plastics annually that end up in toxic and hazardous landfills around the world and take years to break into harmful microplastics.
Green Boom is the oil absorbent industry’s leading manufacturer of zero polypropylene, biomass-only, completely hydrophobic, oil-only absorbents. Its patented line of eco-friendly absorbent products works for oil spill prevention, response, and remediation, whether they are long- or short-term, on land or water. Green Boom absorbents have high absorption capacity, heat resistance and are easy to reuse.
It is the only EPA and USDA-approved boom in the U.S. It is also TUV-approved in Europe. These certifications help develop and expand biobased product markets and support the farms in Green Boom’s communities where they make their products.
Green Boom also has technical approvals, like EPA and NOSDRA, that allow the use of its sorbents in the critical application of oil spill cleanup.
ONE-TO-WATCH
The Sustainable Recruitment Alliance: Inspiring sustainability across all roles
The Sustainable Recruitment Alliance was founded in 2020 by Laura Yeates to address the wasteful and high-emitting practices in early talent recruitment.
From her research and experience, traditional recruitment had a major environmental impact through its use of merchandise, travel, catering, and more. The financial cost to attract in the legal sector alone is around £10,200 per graduate– a jarring cost that doesn’t begin to reflect its corresponding environmental impact.
To face this, the Alliance:
* Creates an ecosystem of early talent stakeholders committed to reducing emissions and embedding sustainability into their recruitment practices.
How do we do this?
* Members pledge to review, reduce, and report emissions.
* We share and promote best practice and keys learnings
* Education and collaboration
* Create expansion on sustainable practices and engagement strategies.
Achievements:
* Measurable reductions in emissions from recruitment events and merchandise
* Driving behavioural change through research insights
* Grew from 0 to nearly 100 member organisations by 2023
Communication strategies include impact reports, case studies, awards, roundtables, podcasts, student advisory board engagement.
Challenges faced:
* Establishing sustainable funding model
* Ensuring credible emissions data reporting
* Building credible external partnerships
* Maintaining long-term member commitment for lasting change.