100 millioner plastposekroner i julegave til 139 plastprosjekter

The Norwegian Retailers' Environment Fund's funds come from plastic carrier bags purchased by Norwegian consumers from the members of the Norwegian Retailers' Environment Fund. Now, over 100 million NOK is being allocated to a total of 139 exciting projects aimed at solving Norwegian plastic problems.

– We manage these funds on behalf of our members and the Norwegian people. Therefore, we all contribute to cleaning plastics from our beaches, using less plastic, and recycling more of the plastic we must use. It is a great privilege to distribute these funds, and this is definitely the highlight of the year for us working at the fund, says Cecilie Lind, CEO of the Norwegian Retailers' Environment Fund.

Here you can see all the projects that received good news about plastic bag funds this week.

22 million for the volunteer cleanup heroes

94 projects are now receiving good news about funds to clean up their local environment.

– On the recipient list are everything from sports teams to school classes, scouts, and diving clubs, all of which have in common that they see pollution in their local area and want to use their own time to clean it up. These are some of the finest projects we support, says Lind.

These projects received support for voluntary cleanups.

Massive effort to increase recycling and reuse

The fund is also allocating 75 million to 44 circular projects.

– In this category, you will find projects that attempt to cut, change, or develop our use of plastic. These projects have the potential to cut several thousand tons of plastic, and there are incredibly many exciting projects that have received funds this year. Among other things, plastic bag funds are supporting the development of reusable fish boxes, more environmentally friendly football events, and the renovation of sailboats to be donated to summer schools for children, says Lind.

These projects received support in the category of circular projects.

Want to increase youth engagement again

Many indicators point in the wrong direction for youth environmental engagement. They feel it doesn't help and that they are not being heard.

– We have tried to address this by launching a project this year in which we contacted youth organizations to seek out good collaboration opportunities.

This has, among other things, led to plastic being put on the agenda of Young Enterprise, which has just been informed that they will receive 5 million to start a two-year initiative for student companies in middle schools.

– We present concrete plastic problems that student companies can work with, requiring concrete solutions and can motivate students to make a difference with us, says Lind. We have great faith that young, smart minds will come up with entirely new solutions that no one has thought of before, and we look forward to seeing what the student companies will come up with.