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Danone-AQUA champions collaborative endeavors to achieve circular economy
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onscious consumerism is the zeitgeist of the 21st century, as a response to so many planetary crises going on, from climate change to plastic waste.
A 2020 survey by the Global Web Index (GWI) indicated that about 82 percent of customers decided not to purchase from a brand with irresponsible material sourcing. This principle is true in guiding consumer decision making processes, from what they eat to what they wear -- environmental shortcomings always drive customers away from brands.
Recognizing this trend, companies need to constantly innovate in their operations to shift from conventional ways of doing business to more sustainable ones.
A lot of companies have actually launched new initiatives to follow this trend, crossing different sectors in a collaborative effort to reduce plastic waste. For instance, bottled water company Danone-AQUA and Swedish retailer H&M have joined hands to create the #bottle2fashion partnership.
As the name suggests, the partnership uses recycled plastic waste to manufacture fashion products, true to the circular business model imperative. According to a 2020 McKinsey survey, the circular business model is projected to help the fashion industry cut its emission by 143 million tons in 2030.
Locally, the partnership between Danone-AQUA and H&M seek to help the Indonesian government’s commitment to reduce up to 70 percent plastic waste in the ocean by 2025 and reaching near zero plastic waste pollution by 2040.
Through the entire #bottle2fashion initiative so far, Danone-AQUA and its partner NGO have collected about 200 tons of plastic bottle waste around the Kepulauan Seribu (Thousand Islands) Jakarta coastal area, as well as in Bandung, West Java.
Upon being sorted and cleaned by the AQUA recycling business units, the plastic waste is sent to H&M’s partnering company, which converts the shredded plastic into polyester threads and fabrics. H&M then uses this to manufacture its Kids Wear line.
Sharing a similar commitment to AQUA on sustainability, H&M also applies a closed-loop recycling system so that its clothes can be recycled back through its garment collection initiative to make sure its manufacturing processes can come full circle.
The consumer education pillar
Of course, consumer education is also a highly important facet of the plastic waste management issue. Both Danone-AQUA and H&M are firm believers in this.
Education is also one of Danone-AQUA’s three sustainability pillars, under the #BijakBerplastik (Use Plastic Wisely) initiative. Thus, supplying sustainable raw materials for H&M’s Kids Wear collection is also a highly effective way for Danone-AQUA to help promote awareness on sustainable living through recycling for children from an early age to help shape a more responsible individual action.
With the new H&M Kids Wear, parents can help children gain understanding about how recycling has helped manufacture the items they wear and why it is important. The Kids Wear collection also helps children to learn this in style, with colorful pallet selection and various types of clothing, allowing them to be comfortably active while learning about #bottle2fashion along the way.
Due to the enormous complexity of the plastic waste issue, Danone-AQUA and H&M believe that creating a more sustainable business practice requires close collaboration among different stakeholders and that companies can be a changemaker by kickstarting such collaborations.
For instance, the #bottle2fashion initiative has seen collaborations between companies and NGOs. It is also essential that we involve governmental institutions and academics in this as well. At the same time, consumer awareness is also imperative to encourage consumers to create a higher demand for sustainable goods to make the recycling industries more lucrative economically. In this case, cross-industrial collaborations are vital.
Danone-AQUA’s collaboration with H&M is only a part of the company’s effort to achieve a more sustainable and circular business practice. It has already established several other programs to support the practice for our better future.
Through the results of all these efforts combined, Danone-AQUA has a commitment is to collect more plastic than it uses by 2025, through #BijakBerplastik, which is embedded in the three pillars of sustainability; collection, education and innovation.
Under the collection pillar, Danone-AQUA’s six Recycling Business Units (RBU) and Collection Center located across Java and Bali have collected on average 13,000 tons plastic bottles annually. Moreover, Danone-AQUA has extended its collaboration with Grab and Octopus to collect more bottles from consumers through a digital application and partners with local waste banks and collection centers in Jakarta, Tangerang, South Tangerang, Bekasi and Bali.
Under the education pillar, Danone-AQUA has launched a pilot educational module on waste management for 130 schools in Indonesia, called Sampahku Tanggung Jawabku (My Waste, My Responsibility) in Indonesian and built educational zones across Yogyakarta, Jakarta and Lamongan in East Java.
In 2019, Danone-AQUA introduceds Indonesia's first mass-produced recycled bottle, AQUA LIFE, which is made of 100% recycled material that has certification from the National Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM) and the National Standardization Agency (SNI).
With its reusable jugs, Danone-AQUA has also made 70 percent of its business circular, all to support the circular economy and ensure environmental protection and sustainability.
Hopefully, all of us can continue working hand-in-hand to respond to this plastic waste issue in a more agile manner, reaching a wider range of beneficiaries so we can greet a more sustainable future.
