Nationality Norwegian | Years active 1980–present | |
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Full Name Kjell Olav Amdam Maldum Born December 7, 1962 (age 54) ( 1962-12-07 ) Oslo, Norway Alma mater Norwegian University of Science and Technology | ||
Kjell Olav A. Maldum (born 12 December 1962) is a Norwegian entrepreneur and business leader. He is a public figure in the Norwegian movement for bottle recycling, an equivalent to bottle bill in the US and cash for container in Australia. Since 2007, he has been serving as the CEO and Chairman of Infinitum AS, the operator of the national paid recycling scheme for bottles and cans marked with the official "recyclable" or "deposit" logo in Norway.
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Early career
Being a graduated from NTNU in Trondheim, Maldum has served in different technical and leadership positions before being appointed as CEO of Infinitum in 2007. He has been a Department Manager at National Institute of Technology (Norway) Teknologisk Institutt 1990-2000, and CEO of Groceries' Environmental Forum or DMF (DAGLIGVAREHANDELENS MILJØFORUM in Norwegian) 2001–2007
Advocating for environment
Through his career and especially in deposit-return system for bottles, he became a known figure for advocating for environment in Norway, lecturing at academic gatherings and national TV programs to promote the idea of where he ha promoted sustainable production with low impact on environment and recycling of one-way containers and avoid wasting food.
In 2006 he won the Optimization Award of the year in Norway. It has been the first time that a person won the award instead of an entity for "his extensive efforts to ensure that the retail sector have optimal logistics and thus be the most environmentally friendly
Maldum has been behind the deposit-return TV commercials and "Infinitum movement" in Norway where a number of celebrities, artists and athletes advertise and encourage for recycling of the materials in the society. The movememnt encourages people to infinitely recycle instead the containers instead of just rhewoing them away. Prime Minister Erna Solberg also took part in the TV action for the bottle recycling.
Special initiatives
Until 2014 Coca-Cola has been using non-deposit bottle for its beverages in Norway. Kjell Olav Maldum played a central role in negotiations for Coca-Cola Norway switching from non-deposit refillable bottles to non-refillable deposit bottles. The move was considered as an environmentally friendly one to introduce deposit on bottles and decrease littering, but it also led to downsizing of Coca-Cola in Norway due to less labor needed for one-way bottles and made headline in Norwegian market about the job losses and also counter-arguments Coca-Cola Norway also promised to invest in recycling facilities inside Norway.
Maldum was also behind the efforts that finally led to the recycling of aluminum cans performed in Norway. The aluminum cans that have been collected in Norway were used to be sent to France for recycling but it has been recycled by Norsk Hydro in Holmestrand since 2014. The move was considered as environmentally friendly step vowing for recycling 60,000 mt of aluminium annually in Holmestrand.