Unilever SA food brand Knorr is re-using the shelves of thousands of their in-store Soup Drive display units to create educational boards for underprivileged schools as part of an initiative to grow future leaders and reduce the brands waste impact.
The initiative forms part of the Unilever Sustainable Living plan committing the business to a ten year journey started in 2010 towards sustainable growth while reducing costs and risks.
In the first initiative of this kind within the Unilever business, the Knorr Soup units were pre-printed before going into stores for the winter “soup season” with the alphabet, maths sums and counting numbers. As the season has drawn to an end, Knorr sales teams have been incentivised to collect these display units from retail stores across South Africa to be re-purposed as educational material instead of being dumped.
“Knorr display shelving is the main contributor to our point-of-sale waste at Unilever, largely as a result of our seasonally-driven Knorr Soups. By re-purposing and distributing our used point-of-sale shelves, we can substantially reduce our contribution landfill and make a difference in the lives of school learners,” says Knorr spokesperson Vuyo Henda.
The first school to receive the re-purposed learning materials is Woodlands Primary in Pietermaritzburg. With 1089 learners, including a day care class of 30 children and a Special Needs class of 15 children, the school is under pressure to meet the educational needs of its children with limited financial resources.
At the educational material kit handover, foundation phase learners received a pack of three learning boards to take home, and each classroom received two packs for use as teaching aids. School Deputy Principal Stephan Oakes is “absolutely delighted and incredibly grateful” to be included in the project, which he says will “encourage both learners and teachers in our literacy and numeracy efforts.”
The Knorr team handed over 549 educational kits on the 25 October 2013 at a special assembly at Woodlands Primary where all learners also received a packed sandwich, fruit and a cold drink, as well as a Knorr Soup sachet and cup to take home to their families.
Knorr is being assisted with the re-purposing project by two local organisations, the MH Moosa Protective Workshops and the Wildlands Conservation Trust. MH Moosa Protective Workshops is an employment facility for approximately 150 mentally challenged people under the auspices of the Pietermaritzburg Mental Health Society.
“The Knorr Shelf Repurpose Project has helped provide employment to approximately 20 mentally challenged individuals who were tasked with sorting, stripping, cutting and collating the shelves into kits of three posters each,” explains MH Moosa Managing Director Vadi Govender.
The Wildlands Conservation Trust is a non-profit organisation that promotes ‘green-preneurship’ by teaching disadvantaged communities to collect recyclable waste and grow and care for indigenous trees, which they barter for livelihood support items such as groceries, bicycles, Jojo tanks, building materials and school fees. The trust’s social enterprise, Wildlands Green-preneurs (Pty) Ltd, collects waste from a network of 74 schools in the Msunduzi and Umgeni districts and provides them with financial support in the form of a recycling rebate.
“Wildlands will work with the most disadvantaged of these primary schools to distribute the Knorr re-purposed shelves. We are thrilled to be able to network and partner with other organisations in the community to make this project happen. This way, our waste materials become a valuable commodity which empowers whole communities and protects the environment at the same time. Knorr is proud to be a brand with a conscience,” states Henda.