P&G Makes First Recyclable Shampoo Bottle from Beach Plastic
In an industry first for sustainable packaging, Procter & Gamble has started producing the world’s first recyclable shampoo bottle made from up to 25 percent recycled beach plastic.
P&G’s Head & Shoulders brand will produce the world’s largest run of recyclable bottles made with post-consumer recycled (PCR) beach plastic—a milestone in the hair care industry in creating a sustainable business model that advances a circular economy.
Announced at the World Economic Forum in Davos, P&G’s new initiative follows on The Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s call to business leaders to drive the re-use of plastic waste.
P&G's Head & Shoulders Launches World's First Recyclable Shampoo Bottle Made with Beach Plastic sco.lt/5R1JmT#circulareconomy
“We felt that the leading shampoo brand in sales should lead in sustainability innovation and know that when we do this, it encourages the entire industry to do the same,” said Lisa Jennings, VP Head & Shoulders, in a press release.
Working with recycling experts TerraCycle and SUEZ, a limited run of the new bottles will be available to consumers in France at retailer Carrefour this summer.
P&G also announced a plan to introduce recycled plastic across its European hair care brands in 2018—a commitment that would use 2,600 tons of recycled plastic to make half a billion shampoo bottles every year.
P&G project turns beach plastic into shampoo bottles - #Plastics #packaging @ProcterGamble buff.ly/2iXWWoZ
Volunteers collected the waste for the new bottles along France’s beaches. With predictions that by 2050, there could be more plastic than fish in the sea, P&G expects to manufacture as many as 170,000 of the special edition bottle.
Steve Morgan, technical director at plastics recycling network Recoup, said the level of recycled content makes the initiative a technological breakthrough. “In the past when companies have tried to use plastics that have been sourced from oceans or beaches, it hasn’t been technically possible because of the exposure to UV, and also the plastics degrade and don’t recycle that well,” said Morgan. “What they’ve done here is make it technically viable, which is kind of the big thing.”
While recycling is becoming more common, real change will come as companies shift to circular economy business models rather than traditional linear make-use-dispose models.
P&G has been using PCR plastic in packaging for more than 25 years, but this latest commitment raises the bar and paves the way for achieving a corporate 2020 goal of doubling the tonnage of PCR plastic used in packaging.
In 2015, adidas made headlines with a prototype recycled shoe made from ocean plastic.
Fast forward to 2017 and adidas, in partnership with Parley for the Oceans, will sell 7,000 pairs of the “UltraBOOST Uncaged Parley” for $220 a pair, with a plan to produce 1 million pairs of from more than 11 million plastic bottles this year. adidas notes on its product page, the shoes are “spinning the problem into a solution. The threat into a thread.”
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