MONDELĒZ International has advanced its commitment to aid the creation of a circular economy for plastic by joining the Circulate Capital Ocean Fund (CCOF).
The firm will become a limited partner and make an investment in CCOF to support scalable business solutions to help develop infrastructure for the collecting, sorting and recycling of plastic waste.
It said the goal of the investment is to enhance focus on the physical collection flexible films that have traditionally been more difficult to collect, sort, recycle and ultimately reuse.
CCOF is dedicated to addressing India and Southeast Asia’s plastics challenges, with its investors including some of the world’s leading consumer packaged goods companies. The fund provides financing to waste management, recycling and circular economy start-ups, as well as small and medium sized enterprises across India, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines.
Mondelēz said its investment in CCOF is expected to finance enterprises that support the company’s goal to collect more plastic waste than it currently produces across India and Southeast Asia, as well as furthering CCOF’s investments into flexible plastic waste collection, recycling and infrastructure enterprises.
Dirk Van de Put, chairman and chief executive officer of Mondelēz International, said, “This investment marks a pivotal step forward in our contribution to a circular economy for plastics and is a clear demonstration of our long-term goal of net zero waste.
“As part of our ambition to become a more sustainable snacking company, this partnership will help fund businesses that are trying to fill systemic gaps in the collection, sorting and reuse of plastic waste, including flexible film.”
Rob Kaplan, founder and CEO of Circulate Capital, added, “We are excited to partner with Mondelēz International, a world leader in the food and beverage industry. Their investment in the Circulate Capital Ocean Fund will enable us to put more capital to work by funding enterprises located in South and Southeast Asia with innovative solutions to combat plastic waste and advance the circular economy.”
