Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL), a company that manufactures packaged goods, announced a programme on Tuesday that will provide funding and mentorship to Indian tech entrepreneurs engaged in the circular economy and management of plastic trash.
Unilever, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) of the UK, EY, and Social Alpha are all partners in the “Transform Plastics Challenge.”
Five Indian start-ups will participate in the initiative, receiving up to 1.6 crores each in grant cash, equity investments, mentorship, and help to grow their businesses.
The Transform Plastics Challenge will highlight start-ups working on creating technological solutions for processing plastic waste, commercially viable reuse or refill models, and advances at the material or substrate level that enables recyclable or compostable packaging.
Start-ups already developing cutting-edge, scalable solutions to handle plastic waste management are encouraged to apply to the programme.

In keeping with the Transform philosophy, we want to speed up the development and scaling of solutions by Indian start-ups that have the potential to be adopted on a global scale. Deepak Subramanian, Executive Director, Home Care, HUL and General Manager, Home Care South Asia, said, “We are excited to work with Social Alpha to help empower the next generation of start-ups that will pave the path to a waste-free world.
By 2025, HUL has outlined its intention to utilise only reusable, recyclable, or compostable plastic packaging and to collect and process more plastic than it sells. The manufacturer of Dove soaps and Knorr soups said that in 2021, four years earlier than expected, it.