Huhtamaki funds RiverRecycle’s plastic debris clean up in India’s Mithi River
30 Aug 2021 --- Finnish cleantech startup RiverRecycle has launched a collection unit for plastic debris in India’s Mithi River. The project was funded by Huhtamaki, which donated €600,000 (US$707,000) as part of its commitments to tackle packaging waste in marine environments.
In cooperation with UN’s Global Pulse, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and Earth5R, an India-based environmental entity, RiverRecycle’s operation aims to reduce plastic pollution in the Indian Ocean.
The organization created a prototype waste collector that was tested in Finland. This was then transported to and assembled in Mumbai, where it is now operational and will be collecting waste from the Mithi River for the next 12 months.
“We believe in protecting food, people and the planet. We also believe that cooperation across the value chain with key stakeholders is needed to address global sustainability challenges, for example, such as in this case marine plastics,” says Thomasine Kamerling, executive vice president sustainability and communications at Huhtamaki.
“If we want to drive systemic change, we not only need to support the development and commercialization of innovation that can help stop waste from getting into the oceans, but we also need the monetization of waste and incentivization of local communities to improve their waste management practices.”
The Mithi river is highly polluted with packaging waste, sewage and other materials.Fighting waste with drones
In addition to building, setting up and operating the river cleaner for a year, Huhtamaki’s donation has been used to organize local hands-on workshops on effective waste management and recycling with a view to driving systemic change.
The project also provides input to VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland on the floating waste and its seasonal variations that can optimize clean-up operations and recycling processes for the future.
Jukka Sassi, a senior scientist at VTT Technical Research Centre, explains how the technology works.
“The Huhtamaki funding enables the adaption of optical sensors and drones in the detection of floating plastic objects and differentiation of plastics from organic material,” he details. “VTT’s contribution also includes pyrolysis test runs and assessing chemical recycling of the recovered plastic waste fractions.”
“At a broader level, we aim to enhance circular economy solutions for the global challenge of plastic waste pollution. In addition to the technology involved, we also appreciate the collaboration between local partners and communities as an essential part of the successful project implementation.”
Huhtamaki in India
The Mithi River project is one of three initiatives that Huhtamaki funded as part of its 100-year anniversary to address global sustainability challenges and build and learn from circular economy initiatives globally.
The company’s ambition is to have 100 percent of its products designed to be recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2030. In India, where Huhtamaki has 16 units and manufactures mainly flexible packaging for food, pharmaceuticals and personal and home care products, the company already has several recyclable flexible packaging structures in the market under its Huhtamaki blueloop concept.
In addition to the Mithi River project, Huhtamaki is contributing to building necessary recycling infrastructure by setting up a pilot recycling plant for flexible packaging in India, which should be operational by the end of 2021.
“This project promotes sustainability with a holistic approach by collecting plastic waste, while also empowering local communities to gain knowledge and employment,” notes Sudip Mall, managing director, flexible packaging India at Huhtamaki.
Edited
By Louis Gore-Langton
