Recycling : Kudoti recognised for waste management efforts by Nestle
Kudoti was awarded the 2021 Nestle Shared Value Competition Award for its innovative waste management solution.
The South African technology start-up received $40,000, money to be allocated for the further expansion of its digital recycling platform. Intangible benefits conferred include access to resources from Ashoka, a global network of social entrepreneurs and change makers as well as the possibility of working together with Nestle on future projects in the scope of a mentoring programme.
Kudoti (Zulu for ‘trash’) is re-branding ‘waste’ as ‘recoverable materials’. A digital supply chain solution, the platform matches up recyclable waste to manufacturers according to demand. This is done in real time, with the platform helping to identify particular investment needs within the sector. The e-solution also serves to raise awareness on all issues regarding the possible negative impact of waste discharged into the environment. Rendering recycling convenient as well as profitable is the objective Kudoti has set itself.
Co-founder and CEO of Kudoti, Matthieu de Gaudemar, expressed the start-up’s gratitude to Nestlé and Ashoka. “Businesses and individuals have a concept of waste as waste when we should have a concept of waste as a resource. With new business models, we can change the way that waste is viewed,” he said.
“Nestlé wants a greener landscape. Through these awards, we will identify and empower market disruptors in the hope of accelerating a waste-free future,” says Saint-Francis Tohlang, Nestlé East and Southern Africa Region (Esar) Communications and Public Affairs Manager.
“When people speak of the future, a world of hovercrafts or holograms may come to mind. But at Nestlé, we are seeking a more environmentally futuristic landscape. Through these awards, we are on a mission to identify and empower market disruptors in the hope of accelerating a waste-free future”, says Saint-Francis Tohlang, Corporate Communications and Public Affairs Director at Nestlé East and Southern Africa Region (ESAR).
“Innovations such as Kudoti not only help reduce waste but also drive consumer behaviour change which is key to achieving a waste-free future and takes us closer to a circular economy,” concluded Tohlang.
The Nestle CSV Prize was started in 2010. It aims to address current sustainability challenges by empowering and investing in social entrepreneurs, the idea being to scale up or replicate effects of business ideas through financial investment.