Dieuwertje Nelissen, Executive Director and Chief Program Officer at Enviu, doesn’t just talk about systems change, she drives it. With years of experience and contagious enthusiasm, she dives straight into how Enviu’s ventures challenge the status quo.
Alner is Changing the Linear Economy
We currently live in a linear economy. It’s highly polluting, it’s unequal. Here is where a circular venture design is viable – it allows a redo from scratch, it can rethink the system and redesign a solution.
Enviu’s venture Alner, developed by our Zero Waste domain, is a successful example of that. The company tackles the problem of single use plastic (SUP) packaging at its root – by replacing these SUPs with a reusable alternative. Alner also works with many micro entrepreneurs which makes its impact not only environmental but social as well – it improves livelihoods and generates extra income.
But interestingly enough, at the beginning, there wasn’t a flood of support for the idea – in fact, quite the opposite. Few believed that a reusable solution targeting underserved communities would work.
“We actually started Alner because we saw sachets as one of the bigger polluters. For example, in Indonesia they’re used widely,” explains Dieuwertje.
Established companies often struggle to find a solution for the economically vulnerable consumers. This way, the narrative around them has been depicted as inevitable and unchangeable.
“When we started, a lot of people thought we were even crazy to come up with a sachet solution,” shares Dieuwertje.
Five years later, the direct impact is clear. Since 2020, Alner has sold 40,000+ products to 2,500+ customers, thus preventing the use of 400,000+ single-use packages.
So how do we translate this success into system-wide change? Dieuwertje explains.
When developing the refill and reuse revolution we ran into a challenge – there were no standards for these solutions. While single-use packaging had long-established regulations, reusable systems were still uncharted territory. This lack of standards made it impossible for regulatory bodies like the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to approve reuse solutions.
Instead of waiting for change, we decided to lead it. We initiated conversations with local FDA representatives and brought together a diverse group of stakeholders. Today, those standards exist. Alner is now certified. And even more importantly, we’ve helped build the market for reuse solutions from the ground up. Groundbreaking? We think so.
Alner has been driving the market internationally as well.
“We began collaborating with companies like Unilever and Nestle… And next thing we knew, Alner found itself on the global stage proving the new model. This allowed us to onboard other stakeholders, like corporates and governments.”
This is the indirect impact Enviu strives to achieve – setting an example.
“Our objective isn’t for Alner to have a monopoly on a real solution. Sure, we want Alner to continue being a healthy business and to be joined by other industry players and investors. But at the same time, we also want other ‘Alners’ to start elsewhere,” concludes Dieuwertje.
Another example of an impact-driven business model that changes the system through both direct and indirect impact is SokoFresh.
SokoFresh’s System Solution to Food Loss
SokoFresh, a venture developed by our Agrifood domain, is tackling food loss. It works especially with smallholder farmers where the loss after the harvesting and before the market is immense due to lack of appropriate storage to keep the products fresh. In these cases, the food loss can go up even to 50%, diminishing the already economically vulnerable farmers.
“We used the existing technology of cold storage, but changed the whole business model and use case,” reveals Dieuwertje.
While cold storage is crucial for preservation of the food, what was missing from the previous solutions was how to make it accessible to the smallholder farmers, and how it could reach them in the rural areas.
Our solution is simple, yet effective: The cold storage is supported by solar energy and is semi mobile. This way, it could move around, and the farmers can conveniently use the service. This not only increases the income of the farmers but also ensures that SokoFresh is a viable business and a fitting market linkage solution.
“Food insecurity is a big topic worldwide. This solution can be an example to many other countries too.”
SokoFresh is further working on being a great example – they work with the World Food Program (specifically for refugee camps) to ensure cold storage of fresh produce. Currently, SokoFresh is seeking collaboration with others who have similar interests in terms of supporting smallholder farmers and increasing food security.
“Of course, we want SokoFresh to directly contribute to the food loss solution. However, we also aim to make a bigger impact by showing it’s possible and taking others along in the movement,” explains Dieuwertje.
Being A Company That Creates Systems Change
Dieuwertje Nelissen, Executive Director and Chief Program Officer, has been working toward Enviu’s mission for the past 7 years. During that time, there is one question she has been asked again and again.
“Enviu’s slogan is We Build World-Changing Companies. How can one company be world-changing?”
And this is where Dieuwertje shares the ultimate mission of Enviu: system impact is just as important as the direct one.
We aim to build a successful venture and create direct impact. But we also aim to create an example which can motivate other companies to join the circular solutions, and impact-makers to develop their own ventures. Because this is how you build a world-changing company – by changing the system through collaboration and knowledge sharing. By creating a model that inspires and by building a market. Like Alner, like SokoFresh.
Enviu’s aim is not to create a monopoly through a company, but to create a movement. A triumphant rise of impact ventures which prove that things can be done in a more environmentally friendly and social way simply by changing the system to a circular one.
We are set on a journey to redesign the current linear structure. Are you going to join us?
