Ecover has announced a “breakthrough” in its work with plastic, launching a new limited edition Ecover Ocean Washing-Up Liquid Bottle – the first to be made with 50% plastic waste, washed up and collected from the beaches of Rio de Janeiro.
As part of their ambition to rethink the way we use plastic, Ecover is also announcing a series of bold commitments, including using only 100% recycled plastic in all bottles by 2020.
Plastic in our oceans is one of the biggest threats to marine life, with experts predicting that there could be more plastic than fish in the ocean by 2050.
Motivated by this growing concern, Ecover launched its first “ground breaking” limited edition Ocean Washing-Up Liquid bottle in 2014, containing 10% ocean plastic with plastic waste collected by fishermen in the North Sea.
Now in its fourth year, 2017 sees the biggest breakthrough in ocean packaging yet – using 50% plastic waste found in our oceans, and 50% recycled plastic.
The limited-edition Ecover Ocean Washing-Up Liquid bottle (RRP £2) will be on sale from October 25 2017 exclusively in selected Tesco stores nationwide.
“As well as trial new, non-plastic, fully biodegradable materials by 2020. We know it’s just the beginning but these are the steps we need everyone to take if we’re serious about cleaning-up of the ocean and reducing our dependence on plastic.”
The news follows an announcement by P&G that its Fairy Ocean Plastic bottle is to be made completely from post-consumer recycled (PCR) plastic and ocean plastic.
As well as raising awareness of the growing problem of plastic in our oceans, Ecover is aiming to tackle the source of the problem – overdependence on plastic, by announcing a series of commitments.
In 2018, Ecover will introduce 100% recycled plastic to its main washing-up liquid range, and across all its products by 2020. They are also aiming to introduce alternative bio-sourced and biodegradable packaging (which do not rely on plastic) by 2020.
Ecover is already using 100% reusable, recyclable plastic for its bottles, with almost all bottles made from 25% recycled content and 75% renewable plant based plastic since 2012.
Tom Domen, long term innovation manager at Ecover says: “We launched our first Ocean Bottle in 2014 to raise awareness of the impact of ocean plastic on marine life. It’s great that the issue has shot up the agenda now but the debate for us needs to move on.
“We need to totally re-think plastic. How we make it, use it, re-use it and recycle it. We think industry should take more responsibility because a durable material like plastic for single use is systemically wrong. That is why today we are making public our ambition to stop using virgin plastic and only use 100% recycled plastic in our bottles within 3 years.
“As well as trial new, non-plastic, fully biodegradable materials by 2020. We know it’s just the beginning but these are the steps we need everyone to take if we’re serious about cleaning-up of the ocean and reducing our dependence on plastic.”
The distinctive design of the new Ecover Ocean Bottle was inspired by nature, using pioneering biomimicry technology to make the packaging even more sustainable. The product uses 15% less plastic than its traditional design by mimicking the structure of micro-organisms found in the ocean.
This year’s bottle features a new look label with a wood block style illustration of the ocean by graphic artist Freya Morgan, inspired by Japanese artist Hokusai’s well known dramatic ocean prints.
The colourful wave and sun motif can be seen through the transparent liquid and bottle, and reflects Ecover’s more positive vision of happier, healthier oceans in the future. The washing up liquid also has a new bespoke fragrance – Sea Kelp & Orange – bringing the scent of the sea to the home.
