The owner of John Lewis and Waitrose is launching a £1m fund to funnel cash into projects with the potential to end the high street’s “throwaway” culture.
The John Lewis Partnership is inviting academics, charities and startups with ideas with the potential to reduce the environmental impact of the food, clothing and appliances we buy, to advertise. to receive part of the money. The fund aims to identify “innovators” who are challenging the industry’s outdated “do… use… throw away” model.
Marija Rompani, the group’s director of ethics and sustainability, says that tackling the climate crisis, biodiversity loss, waste and pollution requires a “different kind of thinking”.
“We live in a world of finite substances and we need to start protecting them before it’s too late,” she said. “This is why we are specifically looking for projects that are renewable and can remove waste or pollution from the design stage.”
The Circular Futures Fund focuses on food, textiles and household products. The winning idea could be the answer to the problem of food waste in a supply chain or consumer’s home, or with the fashion industry being a major polluter, a production method or raw materials. more sustainable.
John Lewis, who has raised £1m from selling 10p plastic bags in stores, said they hope to find “scalable” ideas that can be shared and in doing so will accelerate the transition to a more circular economy.
Street retailers have begun to adapt their traditional model. Ikea, the UK’s largest furniture retailer, now plans to buy back unwanted items for resale as part of its push to switch to a circular model. Marks & Spencer revealed last week that a small amount of their clothing can now be rented from rental website Hirestreet..
Applications for the John Lewis fund, which will be split between a grant of £150,000 and £300,000, will close on 9 January 2022. Bids are being invited from academia, organizations from charity, social enterprises and enterprises under 5 years old. An independent panel will review them in March with grants awarded the following month.
