Business Fund and Commercial Environment | Lofot receives the money as an early Christmas gift

The company is one of only three companies in Nordland to receive support. The other two are “in the same boat” and Nils Peder Thomisen. 73 of the 125 projects in the category “Voluntary cleaning and preventive measures” already received the good news in October, Handelens Miljøfond reports in a press release.

– It’s great to be able to send this message in the run-up to Christmas. We hope the news will provide additional energy and help jump-start action to solve the challenges of plastics in 2023, says Cecilie Lind, managing director of Handelens Miljøfond.

– It is also a well-deserved reward in the back for the good professionals and passionate people we need to solve the environmental problems of plastics, she continues.

The press release states that projects receiving support deal with everything from cleaning up the local environment to developing new technology and/or business models that will reduce the need for plastic. The fund receives its income from the sale of plastic bags via the environmental stake, which since January 1 this year has been 1 crown per bag.

– We have distributed the funds over four years and are pleased with the impressive results. Last year, the projects we supported helped, among others, remove more than 2,300 tons of waste and 6,100 kilometers of coastline, up to 7,380 tons of plastic were replaced with other materials and the use of recycled plastic increased by more than 900 tons. Lind says.

Many of this year’s projects are receiving first-time funding, which Lind thinks is pretty cool.

“More and more people are seeing that we have to do something about our use of plastic, and are considering wise thoughts that are worthy of plastic bag crowns,” she concludes.

Handelsen Melewond

Handelens Miljøfond was founded in November 2017 and is now Norway’s largest private environmental fund.
The fund is the main joint business investment to solve environmental problems related to plastics, and the money comes from members who pay 1 kr for each plastic bag they sell in Norway.
The first crown is dedicated environmental measures that achieve the three main goals of the fund, namely preventing and eliminating plastic litter, increasing resource use and recycling of plastics, and reducing the use of plastics, including plastic bags.
Today’s members sell about 82% of all plastic bags sold in Norway, and they represent more than 10,000 stores. Among the members you will find all major Norwegian grocery groups, specialty and service retail chains and individual stores.