Adidas and P&G for Ocean Plastic Material: a new ocean-frendly plastic

"This is where life starts. We owe every second breath to the oceans. Our oceans give us life, what will we give back? Now we need to pick up the pace to make strides for change. It’s time to Run for the Oceans."

In this way begins the touching ad by Adidas dedicated to the World Oceans Day 2017. Nowadays plastic waste is one of the most difficult issue that is affecting the public opinion. Although we created an indestructable material (so good for preserving food and other goods), there is a problem: it doesn't go away alone since it is not biodegradable. Moreover, we make the situation worse dumping plastic bottles and others into the ocean. And it's useless talking about the consequences. Among them, maybe the most significant one is that ingested plastic damages the internal organs of fish and this raises the question about the safety of our seafood.

Understanding this problem, many different firms all around the world began to dedicate whole advertising campaigns to the sensibilization against plastic waste.

But Adidas and Procter and Gamble did a further step asking themselves:" Is it possible to create and use a material completely composed by Ocean Plastic? Is it possible to transform a threat into a resource?" So not only orienting their campaign against plastic waste, but also offering a concrete solution by creating a new recycled material.

Adidas and Parley : the won challenge for the environment

The American company kept its word and it succeeded: thanks to the collaboration with Parley - space where creators and leaders come together to raise awareness for the beauty of our oceans and collaborate on projects to end their destructions - , Adidas created a unique shoes collection using a complete innovative material called "Parley Ocean Plastic", made of recycled plastic trash collected before reaching beaches and oceans. Indeed their aim is "Creating high performance sportswear by recycling the plastic before it goes into the sea water".

There are three keywords to describe this new eco-friendly marketing strategy:

1. Avoid - stop for plastic bags and never again virgin plastic in their productive processes

2. Intercept - Collecting plastic material before it reaches the ocean

3. Redesign - They have completely innovative ways of producing that combine technology and a new mentality oriented to the future

Procter and Gamble : the new ocean-friendly packaging

The second firm that decided to create something new from the material is Procter and Gamble. The American colossus launched a packaging for Fairy: Fairy Ocean Plastic bottle. As the name says, this bottle is composed completely by post-consumer recycled (PCR) plastic and ocean plastic (in details made of 10% ocean plastic, collected from the ocean and beaches around the world, and 90% post-consumer recycled plastic).

The first-ever Fairy Ocean Plastic Bottle has been created in partnership with recycling expert TerraCycle and will reach British consumers in 2018.

With the Fairy Ocean Plastic bottle, the commitment of P&G was on two sides. Indeed, it wants to work as a "testiamonial" of the big issue of plastic waves and ocean pollution. Meanwhile, it wants to extend its responsibility trying to inspire people to do the right thing for the planet.

This change is particularly significant for Procter and Gamble, considering all their packagings are made of plastic. In fact, "P&G brands, including Fairy, Dawn, Yes, Dreft and Joy, will continue to divert 8,000 metric tonnes of plastic from landfill for use in transparent plastic bottles, using an average of 40% Post-Consumer Recycled plastic content across 481 million of our transparent dish care bottles globally."

Ocean Plastic Material: a new plastic economy?

A wonderful revolutionary technology. We have to admit researchers and product managers did a great job discovering this new material. But, of course, not everything glittering is gold. Or , better, creating stuff like this drives to important resposabilities as well. Indeed, adopting this material means changing completely the production and the consumption system.

According to the report "New Plastics Economy: Rethinking the future of plastic"(Ellen Macarthur Foundation), we might identify a new Plastic Packaging Value chain, represented by the image below:

By acting in this way, we would achieve important goals and results:

1. Drastic reduction of leckage of plastic in natural environments

2. Reduction of pollution

3. Avoidance of other negative externalities

In the end, reaching this situation would improve the quality of - both of the planet and human beings. The real challenge is putting effort not only by a financial point of view (considering the costs of changing the entire productive chain systems), but also - and most significant one - our psychological approach. Indeed, it's fundamental we start to realize the big negative impact this pollution is having and above all the great and positive results we might get if we begin to solve the problem.

"Individually, we are one drop. Together, we are an ocean."

(R. Satoro)