Founded in 2000, Sharity Zrt. was established as a start-up with the aim of finding solutions for the difficulties and obstacles in the area of giving (use of donations received is not transparent enough, therefore, people have not enough trust in the charity organisations or there is too much risk for the companies in donation; there are many people who would like to donate but have no money; there are many organisations that serve good causes and do not have access to the resources of larger companies) and supporting charitable causes in Hungary. Their purpose-driven business model serves sustainability goals at multiple levels and in measurable ways, with a focus on social and environmental issues.

Their unique solution through an app acts as a commission-free donation broker, where users (who download the app) surf among the good causes and the charity organisations, then support the ones selected, with just a couple of clicks.

Transparency is key to their activities: the charity organisations collecting via the Sharity platform are required to meet the so-called Sharity Transparency Standard (STS), under which they have to account with the donations received. This is supported by a risk monitoring and analysing software developed by a ’Big4’ consulting firm.

The selected good causes can be supported not only with money, but also – creating a platform for advertisers and people who want to do something to come together – without money, by „giving time” to the good cause selected by watching a short video. The advertiser – whose video is watched – undertakes to give donations to the good cause based on the number of views.

Their activities also serve an educational purpose, in order to raise social, environmental and sustainability expectations to the level of social, consumer demands in the long term, which are then incorporated into the operation of businesses.

By joining BCSDH, they would like to belong to an organisation where companies operate along similar values. They see the expected benefits of membership in the sharing of knowledge and good practice, alongside the building and strengthening of valuable business relationships.

• The technology behind loopamid enables recycling of polyamide 6 discarded textiles into new, virgin-quality synthetic fibers and materials
• Zara launches today a jacket made only from loopamid®, based on 100% textile waste from garments, after collaborating with leading manufacturing companies to incorporate loopamid into all the different elements of the product

BASF has developed loopamid, a 100% textile-to-textile recycled polyamide 6. Inditex has turned the material into a capsule jacket.

Ludwigshafen, Germany / Arteixo, Spain – 23 January, 2023 – Today, BASF and Inditex jointly announce a breakthrough in their efforts for boosting recyclability in the textile industry. With the launch of loopamid ®, a polyamide 6 (PA6, also known as nylon 6) made from 100 percent textile waste, BASF is providing the first circular solution for nylon apparel made entirely from textile waste. Zara has turned the material into a jacket made from 100 percent loopamid, available worldwide as of today. Following a “design for recycling” approach, all parts, including fabrics, buttons, filling, hook and loop and zipper are made from loopamid. With loopamid, BASF has developed an innovative solution to improve circularity in the fashion industry and recycle polyamide 6 textile waste. Due to its capability to tolerate all fabric mixtures like PA6 and elastane, the cutting-edge technology behind loopamid allows textile-to-textile recycling of post-industrial and post-consumer textile waste. The fibers and materials can be recycled over multiple cycles. At the same time, the material characteristics are identical to those of conventional virgin polyamide. “BASF has reached an important milestone towards circularity in the fashion industry and pioneered an approach to close the loop for nylon textiles,” said Dr. Ramkumar Dhruva, President of BASF’s Monomers division. “Our loopamid has the potential to revolutionize the PA6 market for the better. We are in the process of scaling up our technology to serve our customers with commercial quantities. The capsule jacket together with Inditex is the proof that circularity is possible, and we are eager to further drive the sustainable transformation of the textile industry.”

Inditex has partnered with other leading groups in the clothing manufacturing industry to seamlessly integrate loopamid into various garment components, including fabrics, zippers, buttons, fillings, hook and loop fasteners, and sewing threads. ModaRe, a take-back program operated by the charity organization Caritas, classified, sorted and provided discarded textiles as feedstock. The Italian company RadiciGroup has been working in the process of transforming loopamid polymer into various types of yarn with different characteristics. The multinational Japanese fastening products company YKK and multinational Velcro companies have also played crucial roles in utilizing loopamid polymer to create plastic components for zippers and snap buttons, and hook and loop fasteners. Uniter from Spain, Tessitura Vignetta from Italy and Freudenberg and Gütermann from Germany have also participated in this project to develop other garment components such as inner labels, filling materials and sewing threads using loopamid.

Javier Losada, Inditex’s Chief Sustainability Officer, added, “Driving innovation is key to advancing towards a more responsible industry. This collaboration is a great example of how, by collaborating all together, we can use the new technology to transform textile waste into a new resource. This project is also a first step to move towards a circular solution, as the industry still needs to boost new collecting and recycling capacities in order to close the loop and scale recycling for post-consumer waste.”

The collaboration of BASF and Inditex is based on a joint journey – both companies are following ambitious sustainability goals. By the year 2030, BASF aims to double its sales generated with solutions for the circular economy to €17 billion. To achieve this, the company is concentrating on three action areas: circular feedstocks, new material cycles and new business models.

Inditex aims to have 100% of its textile products to be made exclusively from materials with a smaller environmental footprint by 2030. As part of this commitment, the Group expects to have 25% of the textile fibers made from next-generation materials that do not yet exist at an industrial scale, 40% of conventional recycled materials and 25% of organic and regenerative fibres. Polyamide 6, commonly known as nylon 6, is a type of synthetic polymer that is widely used in various applications due to its excellent mechanical properties and versatility. BASF is one of the leading manufacturers of polyamide 6 and its precursors, with production sites in Europe, Asia and North America.

SPAR has organised and evaluated its first carbon awareness event. The company will offset the carbon footprint of its partner event of the Budapest Wine Festival by planting 392 autochthonous fruit trees.

“Our world is rather fragile, so we must take all reasonable efforts to protect it as much as we can. For many years, SPAR Hungary has been consciously striving to ensure that the operation of its stores, as well as the production and distribution of its products and the organisation of its events are all guided by this principle. That is why at this year’s Budapest Wine Festival, SPAR’s partner event has been planned with the smallest possible carbon footprint. We voluntarily compensate for the emissions generated by organisation, energy consumption, travel of guests and meals by planting native fruit trees,” summarised Márk Maczelka, head of communications at SPAR Hungary.

SPAR’s partner, the GreenDependent Institute, accurately calculated the carbon footprint of the event based on the number of participants, the duration of the event, the number of travels to and from the event, the food, drinks, service, printed materials, the amount of paper used in organisation, and the energy used at the event (for lighting and sound). Thus, the carbon footprint of the event was 8.5 tonnes of carbon dioxide emitted, mostly from catering (more than 60%), and 38% from travel. Three quarters of the 440 participants travelled to the event from Budapest, and how they travelled (by car, public transport, bicycle, on foot, etc.) was also assessed.

Already in the organisation phase of the event, SPAR Hungary made participants aware of how to be carbon-conscious. For example, by trying to avoid generating food waste by putting only the necessary portion on their plate and using public transport to get to the venue, or by sharing the use of cars. The company also sought to reduce environmental impact by sourcing ingredients for the food served at the event from local producers to support shorter supply chains, and by also sourcing beverages from domestic partners. Dishes were prepared on site, eliminating the need to transport and package food separately, and reusable cutlery and glasses avoided the build-up of additional waste. Waste was collected selectively, untouched food was distributed to those in need with the help of the Hungarian Food Bank Association, and the remaining waste was transported and processed by Biofilter.

The 8.5 tonnes of CO₂ emissions from the event, calculated by the GreenDependent Institute, were voluntarily offset by the Hungarian retail chain by planting native fruit trees. According to calculations of the experts this would require 392 tree seedlings over five years, which the green organisation distributed to the gardens of educational and welfare institutions in cooperation with SPAR Hungary. By offsetting the carbon footprint of the event this way, and by planting indigenous trees from the “Fairy Garden” (Tündérkert) orchard in Pórszombat, a gene conservation site in the Zala County, the company has contributed to the conservation of biodiversity and local varieties.

70% less plastic than before is used in the new innovative vacuum-formed film packaging of SPAR’s popular S-BUDGET pork mince. The saving on packaging also enables the Hungarian retail chain to reduce the consumer price of the product.

“It is a primary objective of our company to use less plastic in the packaging of our goods, while also complying with the strictest food safety and storage standards. With our environmental measures taken, we saved more than 550 tonnes of plastic packaging in 2022. This figure could now increase further as one of our most popular meat products, the 500g SPAR S-BUDGET pork mince is now available in INTERSPAR stores in film packaging with protective gas instead of the previously used plastic tray. Following the trial period until next February, we aim to switch to flow pack packaging for this product in all our stores, provided that customer feedback is positive,” explained Márk Maczelka, head of communications at SPAR Hungary.

The new flow pack packaging of S-BUDGET pork mince in 500 g packs, produced in the company’s proprietary Regnum meat-processing plant, now uses 70% less plastic and a protective gas film with absorbent paper instead of a tray. The volume of plastic used is less than a third of the previous packaging, only 4.95 grammes. With the new packaging, SPAR is able to sell this mince for 899 HUF instead of the previous price of 1049 HUF, now available in INTERSPAR hypermarkets.

Flow pack technology is safe, preserves the freshness of the meat and uses only packaging material that meets the stringent international quality assurance standards of SPAR. Since the S-BUDGET pork mince is one of the most popular products of the retail chain (with nearly 40 000 packages transported from the meat-processing plant and reaching store shelves every month), this innovative packaging allows SPAR to significantly reduce its environmental impact.

Created in 2021, the Startup’s core driver is to produce products that make a significant contribution to the shift to carbon neutrality.

They are working on an “Upgrade Spray-coating” solution that works by absorbing light that is not useful for solar panels and emitting it in a spectrum that the solar panel can use, thereby significantly increasing their energy production immediately after application. Their solution can also be applied to solar panels already installed.

Lanus Solar contributes to increasing sustainability by optimising the use of solar energy by increasing carbon neutrality, reducing the environmental footprint and increasing the uptake of green energy.

They join BCSDH to increase their sustainability knowledge, participate in professional programs, and meet and share experiences with the membership.