Milestone for the environment

In seven years, The Norwegian Retailers' Environment Fund has allocated a full NOK 2 billion to projects and measures that combat plastic litter, reduce the use of plastic bags and contribute to circular solutions. The funds come from the fee on plastic bags sold in member retailers' stores – an alternative to a government levy, established in response to the EU Plastic Bags Directive.

“We are incredibly proud of what the Fund has achieved with such a small administration in such a short time. The Swedes have had a higher bag price than us for many years, but have no environmental measures to show as a result of the government levy. It is our voluntary members who deserve the credit for the Fund’s existence, and fortunately we have the financing in place to continue the work of removing plastic from Norwegian beaches, nature and local communities, among other things, in the future as well.”

Through Cleanup Norway in Time, the world’s largest professional cleanup programme, fully funded by The Norwegian Retailers' Environment Fund, 47 per cent of Norway’s outer coastline has been cleared of marine litter. Cleanup Norway in Time has enabled hundreds of coastal cleaners across the country to carry out the work needed for a cleaner coastline. Thanks to their efforts, more than 4,100 tonnes of waste have been removed from Norwegian beaches and coastal areas – and handled responsibly.

In addition, the plastic bag funds have made it possible to remove more than 11,000 boat wrecks that would otherwise have broken down into microplastics, and recover more than 30,000 ghost fish traps from the seabed – an important measure to restore shellfish stocks along the Norwegian coast. Not least, the Fund’s measures have led to plastic bag consumption in Norway being reduced by more than 50 per cent, meaning Norway is well on its way to meeting the EU requirement of 40 bags per inhabitant.

Plastic bag fees have also helped to ensure thatThe Community Plastics cleanupwhich has so far engaged more than 58,000 children and young people in cleaning up their local area. The Community Plastics cleanup enables children and young people to collect litter instead of selling products as part of community fundraising, benefiting both the environment and the activities on offer.

Norwegian artificial turf pitches have also received an important environmental boost. In collaboration with the Norwegian Football Association, the Fund has contributed to 223 artificial turf pitches reducing emissions of rubber granulate by as much as 95 per cent – a significant effort against Norway’s largest source of microplastics in nature.

Through small and large businesses, the plastic bag funds have stimulated the development of pioneering solutions with positive effects for both the environment and consumers.

A good example is ReMadrass, which, with support from The Norwegian Retailers' Environment Fund, has made significant progress in realising its ambitious project to establish a national system for the reuse and recycling of mattresses. The concept is entirely new to the Nordic market and represents an important step towards a more circular economy in Norway, where it is estimated that as many as 700,000 mattresses are sent for incineration every year. ReMadrass works with IKEA, among others, enabling mattresses returned under its comfort guarantee to be sent to ReMadrass’ factory in Jevnaker, where they undergo careful cleaning before being sold in IKEA’s second-hand store at a reduced price.

“It was completely natural for us to approach The Norwegian Retailers' Environment Fund for this project. Thanks to them, we have managed to establish our factory,” says Lennert Hug, founder of ReMadrass.

Another Norwegian company that has achieved groundbreaking results with support from The Norwegian Retailers' Environment Fund is KAOS. Co-founder Gineline Kalleberg explains that the funding from the Fund was absolutely crucial in realising their ambitious goal: to develop the world’s first circular high chair, made from 100 per cent recycled plastic – a project that many experts initially believed was impossible. The result, KAOS ReKlapp, has been on the market since 2024, won several awards and created sustainable ripple effects within the plastics industry.

Through thousands of projects, The Norwegian Retailers' Environment Fund has contributed to environmental solutions that are both measurable and have the potential to be scaled across industries and national borders. For example, Tomra’s pilot project for a deposit return scheme for takeaway packaging has been assessed as a possible solution for coffee cups in Oslo. In addition, plastic bag revenues have been allocated to technology at Norway’s new national plastic sorting facility, with the aim of further increasing plastic recycling in Norway.

Going forward, The Norwegian Retailers' Environment Fund will continue to manage every NOK from plastic bag revenues with the aim of creating real and lasting environmental results.