Working in partnership
The brands Hellmann's, AdeS, Omo and Rexona are working in partnership with one of Brazil's leading supermarket chains, Pão de Açúcar, to set up supermarket recycling stations. This makes recycling convenient for shoppers, who can bring their recyclable waste with them when they visit the stores.
Customers are given colour-coded plastic bags when they shop at the store to help sort and carry their waste for recycling. Blue bags are used for paper, red for plastics, green for glass and yellow for metal. The bags also list the types of waste that can be recycled to help educate consumers.
Since the project began in 2001, 101 recycling stations have been established across 17 cities in Brazil, working in partnership with 15 ragpicker' cooperatives. More than 10 000 tonnes of waste plastic, cardboard, toothpaste tubes and glass have been collected for recycling. The materials are used to make new products such as toys, garden seats, furniture, pen containers and household appliances.
Luiz Carlos Dutra, Corporate Affairs Vice President for Unilever Brazil said: "In addition to reinforcing our ties with one of the main retail chains in the country, this joint initiative with Pão de Açúcar reflects Unilever's commitment to sustainable development. It promotes respect for the environment in communities and sets a positive example."
Creating jobs
More than 350 jobs have been created in sorting, recycling and reprocessing the waste materials. Unilever also sponsors 'environmental instructors' at the recycling points, to help teach consumers about recycling. Many of the instructors are older people who would find it hard to get work elsewhere.
"With new ideas and a bit of perseverance, the project has achieved both environmental and social benefits," said Juliana Sansano Nunes, Corporate Affairs Director, Unilever Brazil.
Awards
The project won a Unilever award for best supply chain innovation in the Latinnovation Awards 2001 and an award for Social Responsibility in the Retail Trade from the Getúlio Vargas University in 2003. It was named best environmental project (out of almost 1 200 entries) in the Guia Exame de Boa Cidadania Corporativa (the Good Corporate Citizenship Guide by the Brazilian magazine, Exame) in 2004.
