Waitrose launch Plan Plastic - The Million Pound Challenge

“Plastics” is today a hot topic.  Or should I say a major concern.  Hailed as a valuable invention of the 20^th Century that served so well in our daily lives , plastics however has become today an environmental problem - especially those made for single use only.  

David Attenborough’s Blue Planet TV series woke up the world  to the plastics problem directly affecting and polluting our oceans.  Since then we have seen on our screens and online metres of footage of vast islands of plastic waste floating in our open seas that have shocked us to this rude awakening that all fish are now contaminated with  some degree of micro plastics, according to environmental experts.   

SEAQUAL ™ converts plastic waste to filament yarns.
Photo © Lucia Carpio.

It is somewhat comforting to learn that a growing number of retailers are announcing their plans to do something about it, from sustainable sourcing to working towards plastics-free packaging and various efforts to reduce plastic pollution.

UK supermarket chain Waitrose & Partners have just launched a scheme called Plan Plastic - The Million Pound Challenge to award grants of between £150,000 and £300,000 to a ange of organisations using money raised from 5p carrier bags.

Tor Harris, Partner and head of corporate social responsibility, health and agriculture for the supermarket, said: “We hope the fund will help new and effective ways of accelerating action to rethink how we all use and dispose of plastic now and in the future.”

Applications could be from projects encouraging and enabling recycling, campaigns raising awareness and changing behaviour, or initiatives inspiring new ways of shopping and consuming.  Schemes focusing on fining alternatives and increating reuse of plastics in the food, agriculture and farming industries are also welcomed, along with those aimed at preventing micro-plastic pollution.

Trewin Restorick, founder and chief executive of environmental charity Hubbub, which is working with the retailer on the fund, said: "We'll look out for entries that show a tangible impact and have a longer-term legacy beyond the grant funding stage."

Applications will be accepted at planplasticfund.com until 24 February and the chosen grantees will be announced in May.

So if you are taking action to reduce plastic pollution, your project could benefit from the £1 million fund launched this week by Waitrose.

From bottles to boardshorts – 100 million used bottles recycled through QUIKSILVER X REPREVE® programme

Quiksilver, the emblematic boardsports brand of Boardriders, Inc., founded by a group of surfing enthusiasts in Australia in 1969, has announced that its recycling programme — in collaboration with REPREVE® branded recycled performance fibres — has hit above the 100 million-bottle mark (and counting).

Since its start in 2012, about 3500 tons of plastic has been repurposed into boardshorts, jackets and other garments. Recycled polyester both gives a second life to used plastic and reduces the global  footprint of a product significantly. Arguably the most environmentally impactful step of a production cycle is the creation of the raw material.

Producing recycled polyester consumes significantly lower amounts of energy (45%) and water (20%) than virgin polyester. Overall, the recycled fabric produces a third less greenhouse gases than conventional polyester one.

The 100 million bottles recycled through the Quiksilver x REPREVE® program save close to 9 million litres of drinking water and provide the annual energy consumption of close to 1000 households. Each Quiksilver x REPREVE® boardshort contains about 10 recylced bottles.

Made from fossil fuels, plastic is a raw material that we encounter everyday. Only 10% of all plastic produced worldwide is currently recycled — the rest ends up in a landfill or worse, the ocean. Today, large amounts of plastic floating in the ocean are threatening both marine life and the global climate.

“We are very excited to contribute a part to the protection of something we genuinely care about — the ocean. As surfers and snowboarders we need to think about the future, so our grandchildren can enjoy the mountain and the wave we love so much.  Up-cycling plastic waste into something that is useful for us, even today, is an important step”, says Garry Wall, Global General Manager of Quiksilver.

Quiksilver and fellow Boardriders Inc. brands Roxy and DC shoes have been using REPREVE® yarn as an essential part of their product offering for more than 5 years.

REPREVE® starts the process by turning used plastic bottles into plastic flake, which is then converted into REPREVE® chips. The chips are then melted, extruded and converted into yarn that carries the same performance qualities as conventional polyester. On average, a Quiksilver boardshort using REPREVE® yarn contains about 11 recycled bottles. Currently about 50% of the range consists of REPREVE® products. Over the next few years, the brand is committed to using 100% REPREVE® yarn in all boardshorts. The snow collection will follow suit, increasing the adoption of both REPREVE® yarn and other sustainable materials.

“Recycling is one thing, reducing another,” says Wall of Quiksilver. “100 million bottles are a milestone, now we are working on a refined strategy to fight plastic waste through innovative products and actions. There are still many areas where we need to improve and we look forward to bringing green values into all areas of our business, a responsibility that our industry as a whole needs to assume.”

Quiksilver's identity is represented by its logo: a mountain inside a wave symbolizing its attachment to boardsports and its environments, the sea and the slopes. Its products cover the entire range of sportswear, accessories and boardsports gear and it is also intimately associated with the very best athletes and the biggest events in the history of boardsports.

As for REPREVE®, Made by Unifi, Inc., it is regarded as a global leader in branded recycled performance fibers, transforming more than 10 billion plastic bottles into recycled fibre for new clothing, shoes, home goods and other consumer products. The earth-friendly fibre is found in products from many of the world’s leading brands including New Era, Levi’s, Target and Ford. R

Images from Quiksilver.