Today, Ecover announced a breakthrough in its work with plastic, launching a new limited edition Ecover Ocean Washing-Up Liquid Bottle in the UK – the first to be made with 50% plastic waste, washed up and collected from the beaches of Rio de Janeiro.

In addition, the company announced a series of bold commitments, including using only 100% recycled plastic in all bottles by 2020.

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 4th year, 2017 has seen the biggest breakthrough in ocean packaging yet with the development of a bottle made of 50% ocean plastic waste and 50% recycled plastic. The limited-edition Ecover Ocean Washing-Up Liquid bottle will be on sale from 25th October 2017 in selected Tesco stores throughout the UK. The product has been available on the continent since earlier this year.

In 2018, Ecover said it 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 a leader in the industry, 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 noted that “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.

To support the launch and raise awareness of the challenge of ocean plastic and the impact on marine life, Ecover has launched a new online platform – http://www.ocean-plastic.com.