Community involvement
In line with our purpose of protecting food, people and the planet, we are committed to being a good corporate citizen, with a positive impact on the communities we operate in globally. As part of this, we have developed a philanthropic approach through which every year we encourage our local operations to donate money, time, and products to make a difference where it matters locally.
Our community involvement strategy reflects our commitment to advance the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and our own 2030 Strategy. Our efforts can broadly be classified under three priority areas:
- Driving the development of a circular economy
- Having a positive impact on the local communities we operate in
- Supporting acute emergency relief efforts
Activities are organized and governed either at a local (site-based), regional or global level based on the size of the project and/or donation. While the majority of activities are typically carried out locally, we also provide oversight for some projects globally.
Addressing the environmental challenges that we face relies on our ability to foster innovation and drive systemic change. To support such innovation and progress towards circularity, we collaborate with partners and projects focused on improving waste management, product end-of-life treatment, and creating markets for recycled materials.
Huhtamaki and WasteAid
Huhtamaki and the international charity WasteAid started their partnership in 2020. WasteAid has delivered Huhtamaki-funded education and training on waste management and circular systems in South Africa, Vietnam and India. Through the project, WasteAid has conducted a number of activities, including:
- Hosting several information sessions both online and in person in the three countries
- Developing a Circular Economy Network and online platform to accelerate knowledge sharing and innovation among stakeholders in the three countries and worldwide.
- Supporting waste entrepreneurs through intensive business support with pitch events, ongoing networking, and technical support in all three countries
- Developing a Technical Toolkit that includes guidance on waste processing technology, business finance, and health and safety
Aside from creating new sources of renewable or recyclable materials, these projects have diverted hundreds of tons of plastic and food waste from landfills. This not only has the potential to reduce CO2 emissions, but also benefits waste entrepreneurs by creating jobs and establishing connections to formal waste markets. In 2023, Huhtamaki and WasteAid partnership continued concentrating on the Diepsloot community, a mostly un-serviced township in South Africa.
Huhtamaki annual donations and volunteering activities
We at Huhtamaki believe it is very important to be present and active in the local communities we operate in through, for example, product donations and volunteering activities. In addition, every year we make direct monetary contributions to a variety of different causes. In recent years, these have been primarily focused on healthcare, sanitation, education, social welfare, and sustainability. In 2023, our local business units across 16 countries donated around EUR 1.2 million to different local charitable causes globally. Additionally, approximately EUR 35,000 was given as social sponsorship to support, for example, local social welfare initiatives and sport activities.
Huhtamaki has always supported various acute emergency relief efforts around the globe. In recent years we have assisted local communities during the COVID-19 crisis, made donations to support people in Ukraine as well as displaced refugees, and offered localized relief efforts following natural disasters in India, Germany and elsewhere.
Following devastating earthquakes in Turkiye in February 2023, Huhtamaki’s business segments collectively donated about EUR 160,000 to Turkiye’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD), to support a variety of assistance initiatives for victims of the devastating earthquakes in Turkiye. This included producing and delivering about 17,000 tarpaulin bags to protect affected people’s belongings.