Insight

In Ghana, shea nut post-harvest processing is traditionally carried out over fires by women workers at home. They also need to travel long distances on foot with heavy loads to and from collection sites, limited by what their bodies can carry. This approach often results in inefficiencies, environmental impacts, and health risks for local communities.

According to a United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) study, 79 percent of all plastic waste ever produced accumulates in dumps or the natural environment. Unsustainable waste management disproportionately affects low-income communities, where workers face hazardous conditions due to labour-intensive manual sorting.

TRANSFORM is a unique model that unites the strengths of the public and private sectors in support of new market-based solutions to today’s most complex global development challenges. It is a model that has been tried and tested over the past decade, with Unilever, the UK Government’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, and EY at the helm. We are guided by a handful of core principles.

Refill models hold great promise, presenting many benefits to communities by reducing waste and often offering goods at lower costs.