Top 5 sustainability pioneers in Europe

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The pandemic has prompted us to rethink many elements of our lives, from our working habits to how and the place we spend our cash. It has additionally served to intensify our consciousness of environmental points, as we start to think about the world we wish to see post-pandemic. According to a survey by administration consultancy firm Accenture, 60 p.c of shoppers say that they’ve began making extra environmentally pleasant, sustainable or moral purchases for the reason that onset of the pandemic in 2020.

Within the enterprise world, too, sustainability has develop into a prime precedence over the course of the previous 12 months, with main corporations corresponding to Unilever and Google saying vital inexperienced pledges over the course of 2020. Even amid the COVID-19 crunch, enterprise capital corporations have been pouring cash into sustainable, purpose-driven start-ups, suggesting that eco-friendly services could be a key space of development within the post-pandemic world. With that in thoughts, let’s check out 5 of Europe’s prime sustainability pioneers.

1 – Oatly (Sweden)
The non-dairy milk market has been booming lately, and is predicted to succeed in revenues of over $38bn by 2024. That is excellent news certainly for Swedish oat milk-manufacturer Oatly, which has seen its gross sales soar as ethically-driven shoppers search alternate options to conventional dairy merchandise. Based within the Nineteen Nineties, the corporate states its goal as: “to make it simple for individuals to show what they eat and drink into moments of wholesome pleasure, with out recklessly taxing the planets’ sources within the course of.” Boasting partnerships with main retailers corresponding to Starbucks, the corporate is undoubtedly some of the distinguished names within the plant-based trade, and is now stated to be looking for a valuation of near $10bn because it prepares to go public on the US inventory change.

2 – EO Charging (UK)
With most of the world’s staff giving up the day by day commute so as to earn a living from home in 2020, the pandemic has inspired a reassessment of our transport utilization. Whereas world automotive gross sales fell by round a fifth in the course of the pandemic, gross sales of electrical autos rose by a exceptional 43 p.c, displaying an elevated urge for food for eco-friendly automobiles. Because the demand for electrical autos grows, the necessity for elevated EV charging infrastructure is turning into ever extra obvious. Primarily based within the UK, EO Charging is one among Europe’s main producers of electrical automobile charging ports, having bought greater than 30,000 charging factors in over 30 nations within the 5 years since its launch. Working with high-profile companions corresponding to Uber, Sainsbury’s and Ocado to facilitate a transition to EV, EO Charging was just lately named among the many Monetary Instances’ quickest rising firms in Europe.

3 – Cellugy (Denmark)
Plastic air pollution is an space that has come into sharp focus over the course of the previous 12 months, with discarded single-use masks turning into an all too widespread sight for the reason that begin of the pandemic. Primarily based in Aarhus, Denmark, Cellugy is a pioneering biotech start-up that’s dedicated to serving to to deliver an finish to plastic air pollution via the creation of other types of packaging. Its modern product, known as EcoFLEXY, is a sturdy materials designed to be used within the packaging trade. Produced from recycled meals waste, the product is all-natural, totally recyclable and biodegradable. In a current seed spherical, the corporate raised €2.38m from the European Innovation Council Accelerator, which is able to enable it to scale-up manufacturing of its EcoFLEXY product.

4 – RanMarine Know-how (Netherlands)
An surprising aspect impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has been the unlucky enhance in marine litter air pollution. Plastic gloves, single-use masks and different types of PPE have been washing up on seashores throughout the globe, with this enhance in plastic waste threatening the well being of marine life the world over. Dutch drone know-how agency RanMarine is the corporate behind the modern WasteShark – a product designed to clear plastic and different waste from all method of waterways. The system has a 10-hour ‘swimtime,’ and is ready to clear 500kg of particles from the water every day – with customers in a position to management the system remotely and monitor its progress in actual time. The agency secured a Collection-A funding in 2020, permitting it to scale-up its operations this 12 months and past.

5 – Meatless Farm (UK)
After years of unstoppable rise, 2020 was the 12 months that plant-based meals properly and actually hit the mainstream. Within the UK, gross sales of plant-based meals hit £1bn for the primary time, with market analysis firm Kantar discovering that 13 million shoppers had purchased meat-free substitutes and dairy-free milk. Absolutely-vegan firms corresponding to Meatless Farm have seen their gross sales soar as demand for plant-based merchandise grows. The British agency is on observe to document £50m in gross sales in 2021, with founder Morten Toft Bech setting his sights on an eventual $1bn valuation. If achieved, it will make the Meatless Farm a uncommon ‘unicorn’ firm. After a ‘Veganuary’ gross sales bump – which noticed the corporate’s world gross sales rise by 92 p.c in contrast with the identical month in 2020 – 2021 is already shaping as much as be a momentous 12 months for the Meatless Farm.