SC Johnson launches industry-first 100% ocean plastic bottle

The bottle consists of 100% recycled material and is

The US-based firm has announced the move as part of its commitment to reducing global plastic pollution, which currently includes an estimated five trillion pieces of debris being deposited into oceans.

The Windex Vinegar Ocean Plastic bottles will be available in the north American domestic market with eight million units set to be supplied to retailers such as Walmart and Target. As well as being 100% recyclable, the product is also non-toxic and cruelty-free.

Social plastic

Plans are also underway to launch a 100% ‘social plastic’ Windex bottle by the autumn of 2019. Social plastic is a concept developed by sustainable development organisation Plastic Bank, which is working with SC Johnson on the product.

The social plastic concept involves plastic waste being traded for money, items or services in areas with high levels of poverty and plastic pollution. The firm then offers an above-market rate for the waste, to incentivise collection and mitigate the risk to the environment. For Windex bottles, this will include recycled ocean-bound social plastic sourced by Plastic Bank from Haiti, the Philippines and Indonesia.

SC Johnson’s chief executive Fisk Johnson said conditions in the oceans are “continuing to get worse and worse” and so the company has responded with this latest product innovation.

Johnson said: “The Windex bottle is just one of the many ways we are not only providing solutions to combat ocean pollution but taking action to make these solutions a reality.

“The goal is to create recycling infrastructures to help minimize plastic waste and address the challenges of poverty at the same time.”

Industry shift

SC Johnson’s announcement follows a commitment at the 2019 World Economic Forum by the firm to forge a new circular economy partnership with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, in a bid to scale-up closed-loop solutions to the global plastics problem. The partnership will see the two organisations work together to bring cradle-to-cradle products and services to market.

The Windex Vinegar Ocean Plastic bottles are the latest in a line of packaging developments aimed at reducing plastic pollution, including Ecover’s 50% ocean plastic bottle and Proctor & Gamble’s (P&G’s) 25% beach plastic product, both launched in 2017.

James Evison