Washing up bottle made from 50 percent beach plastic launches in Tesco

A washing up liquid bottle which is made with 50 percent plastic recovered from beach and ocean environments has been launched in supermarkets in the UK.

The limited-edition bottle, produced by Ecover, will use recovered plastics from beaches in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, as well as 50 percent recycled plastic.

The firm says the bottle demonstrates its commitment to raising awareness of marine litter, as well as allowing it to outline further plans to change the way plastics packaging is used.

These includes introduce 100 percent recycled plastic to its main washing-up liquid range in 2018, and across all its products by 2020.

It is also introducing recycled plastics into its bottle caps for the first time and aiming to start using alternative bio-sourced and biodegradable packaging (which do not rely on plastic) by 2020.

“We launched our first Ocean Bottle in 2014 to raise awareness of the impact of ocean plastic on marine life,” explained Tom Domen, Long Term Innovation Manager at Ecover.

“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.”

The design of the new Ecover Ocean Bottle was inspired by nature, using biomimicry technology to make the packaging more sustainable. The product uses 15 percent 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 – www.ocean-plastic.com.

The bottle follows a recent announcement by P&G, which is embarking on a project to roll out 320,000 Fairy ‘OceanPlastic’ bottles made with ten percent ocean plastic.

Ecover’s Ocean Washing-Up liquid bottle will be available exclusively in selected Tesco stores nationwide while stocks last.