FINLAND (News release) -- Kotkamills will continue as the main partner of the KooKoo ice hockey team also in the next league season. The partners have agreed to exercise the agreement's option year for 2021-2022. KooKoo is pursuing a completely plastic-free game event, and the agreement means a big step closer to realising that goal.
One of the big social responsibility targets of the collaboration that started between KooKoo and Kotkamills in 2019 is to make the Finnish ice hockey elite league, Liiga, games played at Lumon Arena plastic-free.
"When we started the partnership with Kotkamills, our ambitious goal was to be the first sports club to develop our operations so that one day we can have a completely plastic-free game event and together show our strength in building social responsibility," says KooKoo's Managing Director Sakari Välimaa.
The first products in the plastic-free product family introduced by KooKoo and Kotkamills were the coffee cups and serving trays made from plastic-free board. Since then, the product family has expanded with two different sizes of candy cups, a popcorn tub, and gift packaging for fan products.
"The latest expansion to the product family is the beverage cups and mugs; these have grown our plastic-free product family to seven products. It's really great that our main partner Olvi is supporting our socially significant efforts and enabling the expansion of the entire product family," Välimaa praises.
"We want to be frontrunners in this issue. The products are made from start to finish in Kymenlaakso, so in that respect, too, the carbon footprint is smaller and all of Kymenlaakso region is working together."
"We are very pleased that we can team up with Kotkamills to show the way in building environmental responsibility. We will continue to develop the plastic-free product family together with them," Välimaa continues.
"Sporting events are a good example of how we can act responsibly together. Plastic waste is a global problem, and we want to be part of the solution," says the CEO of Kotkamills Oy, Markku Hämäläinen.
"It is great to see how sports clubs are taking responsibility for ecological rebuilding," Hämäläinen goes on to say.
There are also other partners in building KooKoo's social responsibility, and their contribution is significant in achieving the shared goal.
"We want to extend our thanks also to our other partners who are doing their part to help us advance the effort. Thank you to Kulta Katriina, Olvi, Cukca, PackageMedia, OffsetKolmio and Grano," Välimaa concludes with eyes on the future.
