P&G to make half-a-billion bottles every year from recycled beach plastic

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster):  Global consumer products company Procter & Gamble (P&G) will make half-a-billion hair care products containers every year from recycled plastic starting from 2018 onwards. The company’s shampoo brand Head & Shoulders (H&S) will produce the world’s first recyclable shampoo bottle made from up to 25% recycled beach plastic. The project aims to use approximately 2,600 tons of recycled plastics every year.

The company, in partnership with Terracycle and Paris-based Suez Environnement announced that limited edition H&S bottles will be made available this summer to consumers in France through Carrefour retail outlets. The initiative is considered as the first step in establishing a unique supply chain involving thousands of volunteers and hundreds of NGOs who are associated with collection of plastic waste from beaches.

Lisa Jennings, Vice President, Head & Shoulders and Global Hair Care Sustainability Leader, P&G stated that the company has been fortunate to work with leading recycling companies such as Terracycle and Suez to make its vision a reality. The innovative sustainability effort by the world’s leading shampoo brand will encourage the entire industry to follow similar practices.

Tom Szaky, CEO, TerraCycle noted that the partnership represents an important step for the company. The partnership has marked the start of an important journey by creating the world’s first recyclable shampoo bottle made from beach plastics. With circular economy gaining more traction, other global brands are likely to join this drive for the benefit of our environment.

Jean-Marc Boursier, Group Senior Executive VP in charge of Recycling & Recovery Europe, SUEZ stated that the group has set high recycling standards, producing nearly 170,000 tons of high quality recycled polymers across its nine dedicated plastic facilities across the Europe. The new partnership will motivate other industry leaders in the industry and across other industries to undertake similar sustainability initiatives.

The partnership is viewed as highly relevant, especially in the midst of recent studies which project that world’s oceans are most likely to hold more plastic than fish by 2050. A report published by the World Economic Forum in partnership with Ellen MacArthur Foundation predicts that use of plastics is likely to double in the next 20 years and nearly quadruple over the next 50 years. Every year, nearly 8 million tonnes of plastics leak into the ocean.

As part of its sustainability efforts, P&G has announced significant investments in recycling, aimed at helping the company achieve 0% manufacturing waste from its global network consisting of more than 100 production sites by 2020. Since 2010, nearly 56% of the company’s production sites have achieved this milestone. Over the next three years, it intends to convert all the remaining sites into ‘zero manufacturing waste to landfill’ sites. This in turn could lead to elimination or beneficial reusing of nearly 650,000 metric tons of waste that would otherwise end up in landfills.

According to P&G, the company will continue to focus on finding unique alternatives to treat waste. In order to achieve zero waste goals, the company aims to ensure that all the incoming materials are converted into finished products, recycled internally or externally or reused in alternative ways. Nearly over 50% of the P&G’s production sites have already achieved zero manufacturing waste to landfill status. All manufacturing facilities in 19 countries have met the zero waste qualification. Also, the company is close to achieving similar status for 100% of sites in other countries including India and China.