A circular economy – unlike a linear one – takes a holistic approach to sustainability. While the end-of-life stage is crucial, we must also consider upstream and manufacturing activities, handling the entire life cycle. The choice of raw materials is essential because recycling alone won’t solve the climate crisis.

At Duni Group, we find renewable just as valuable as recyclable. Each recycling cycle requires an input of new material, which should be renewable. This way, we can leave the fossil resources where they belong, in the ground.

In line with Duni Group’s aim to offer the most sustainable solution for any occasion, we acquired a part of the Spanish reusable packaging company Bûmerang Takeaway, S.L. in 2021. Our goal is to create an active partnership and cooperation to support their continued growth in the Iberian Peninsula.

Founded in Barcelona in 2019, Bûmerang markets the first return system for take-away packages in Spain. The system uses a digital platform that makes it easier for consumers to return their bowls and other packages. Currently, more than 70 restaurants and cafes are connected to the system.

The "end-of-life" stage is essential to a product’s overall sustainability performance. We consider various scenarios where our products should fulfil at least one of the following options: recycling, composting or reuse.

• Collection and sorting are essential to successful recycling. We collaborate with the company &Repeat that improves recyclability by creating cleaner material flows from restaurants.
• Composting is essential for our products in Australia, where BioPak has created the solution Compost Connect, which improves collection. 
• Reuse is a growing trend, and we have committed to developing new solutions through our investments in Relevo and Bûmerang, two young but leading companies.

Our sustainability initiatives are central to Duni Group’s updated strategy. It is essential to follow up on how we perform and improve. We have set key performance indicators (KPIs) to facilitate the follow-up of our performance. The KPIs for the sustainability initiative Circular at scale are:

• Virgin fossil plastic use
• The target for 2025: Index 50 on total tonnage, 2019 base year
• FSC®-certified raw material use
• The target for 2025: Business Area Duni 100 %; BioPak Europe 75%