Ecover reveals new packaging made from sea plastics

Ecological cleaning brand Ecover is set to develop a new kind of sustainable packing – plastic made from 100% sugarcane, plastic from the sea and post-consumer recyclables (PCR).

The firm, which is sponsoring the Observer Ethical Awards and featured in Blue & Green Tomorrow’s Guide to Ethical Shopping 2012, announced its plans to launch the new fossil-free plastic packing by 2014 in London on Wednesday.

As part of the company’s pledge to tackle the issue of plastic waste debris in the sea, it revealed that it would begin to incorporate post-consumer recyclables into its packaging, with the aim of developing a new kind of sustainable plastic, having already used ‘plantastic’ – plastic made from 100% sugarcane – since 2011.

Floating marine debris will be collected from UK seas and brought back to land for recycling, where it will be made into bottles by Ecover.

“Our real aim is to raise awareness”, chief executive Philip Malmberg told Packaging News.

“This will create awareness of recycled material and the plastic soup in the ocean. With simple ways we can do a lot to overcome these problems.

“If we can do it then anybody can do it and others should follow our lead on this because we are making significant steps forward.”

Last June, four members of the University of Minnesota’s Centre for Sustainable Polymers wrote a piece for B&GT about how making sustainable plastics was not just a pipedream.

Further reading:

Sustainable plastics: the world’s future materials

Creating a sustainable shopping culture: interview with M&S

The Guide to Ethical Shopping 2012