At a world-class eco-led awards ceremony held at the Two Oceans Aquarium in Cape Town on Thursday evening, Danone NutriDay proudly walked away as Gold winners of the Recycling & Circular Economy Award in this year’s Eco Logic Awards 2022. This award goes to the company that has – through its products/services – significantly reduced waste volumes and shows leadership in facilitating a circular economy – an area that Danone has led strongly for the past two years.
The winning upcycling concept Tubs2Classrooms, sees Danone educating learners from 80 primary schools in South Africa, about responsible plastic recycling. Children are being encouraged to clean and collect their used yoghurt tubs, which are converted into light-weight bricks to build two classrooms for communities in need by the end of 2022.
This project, recently endorsed by Minister Barbara Creecy and the Department of Forestry, Fisheries, and the Environment (DFFE), is the second of its kind for Danone Southern Africa following its successful 2021 One Desk. One Child programme, where 19 tons of plastic from yoghurt containers were transformed into sturdy school desks.
“These projects are aimed to uplift communities and drive recycling education – two critical aspects of our ethos of responsibility, which aligned perfectly to the category criteria,” says Leanne Kiezer, Corporate Affairs Manager at Danone Southern Africa. “Our Tubs2Classrooms project creates a second life for plastic, while providing much needed resources to schools and diverting plastic from landfill. We are exceptionally proud of this recognition and would like to thank Enviropaedia and the event sponsors for enabling this platform, inspiring a common vision and commitment to environmental sustainability.”
Danone is committed to zero waste to landfill by 2030 and 100% recyclable packaging by 2025. Concludes Kiezer: “These initiatives are critical to make a tangible difference, and we welcome collaboration with like-minded partners to scale these projects, protecting and preserving our environment.”
