Ecover, a pioneer of ecological washing and cleaning products in Europe, has long been on a quest to package its products in sustainable packaging that would do justice to the green nature of its products. In 2011, the company announced it would adopt the use of sugar-cane-based PE, which it called Plant-astic in honour of its plant origins, for its plastic bottles. It then went a step further with the announcement that, as of 2014, its bottles would be manufactured from a mix of post-consumer recyclate, bio-based Plant-astic, and plastic sea waste.

Initially, the ocean plastic bottles contained a mere 10% of ocean plastic. This fall, however, saw a major breakthrough with the development of a new Ocean Bottle made with 50% ocean plastic and 50% recycled plastic.

The bottle was introduced on the continent in September; the UK launch took place on Oct 25. At the launch of the new bottle, Ecover also announced a series of commitments, including that in 2018, it will introduce 100% recycled plastic to its main washing-up liquid range, and across all its products by 2020. The company also said it was 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.

 According to Tom Domen, Long Term Innovation Manager at Ecover, industry should take ‘more responsibility’ because using 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.”

The design of the new Ecover Ocean Bottle was inspired by nature, using pioneering biomimicry technology to make the packaging even more sustainable. The product, which features a dimpled surface on the lower half, uses 15% less plastic than its traditional design by mimicking the structure of micro-organisms found in the ocean.