Ecover is a producer of ecological washing and cleaning products founded in 1979 in Belgium. They were the first company to introduce phosphate-free washing powder and the first ecological factory in the world. In 2012, they acquired Method, an ecological laundry and cleaning products company in the USA. Ecover is now distributed in around 40 countries with 300 employees worldwide. They are working to address the issue of plastic pollution in oceans by partnering with organizations to recover plastic waste from the ocean and waterways. This plastic is recycled and used to produce new Ocean Bottle packaging.

1. ECOVER
Ocean Bottle
The story about the
Rudy De Vis
Business Development &
Country Manager Benelux

2. Producer of ecological washing
and cleaning products
Founded in 1979 in Malle,
Belgium
First on the market with
phosphate free washing powder
First ecological factory in the
world in 1992

3. Acquisition of Method in 2012:
ecological laundry and cleaning
products USA
Distributed in around 40
countries
300 employees worldwide

8. Stop making use of fossil
resources to make more
materials

9. Make sure that the packaging
we use is fit for recycling
Polymer rationalisation
Use of colour
Sleeves and labels
Multi layers & copolymers

10. Collaborate with recyclers and
material experts to maximize
the use of recycled materials

11. +1500 Ecover refill points
contribute to closed loop
packaging ambitions

12. Allowing more resource efficient
packaging

13. Don’t be wasteful adding too
much material in the packaging

14. Think about how you can
recover those materials that do
end up as litter

15. Don’t underestimate
the power of
emotion
Reconnect

16. Where do you
think your plastic
bottle ends up?

17. Think about how
you can recover
those materials
that do end up
as litter

18. One million sea
birds and
100.000 marine
mammals are
killed annually
from plastic in
our oceans
Picture by Marcus Eriksen

19. Some of the
compounds found
in plastic have
been found to alter
hormones or have
other potential
health effects

22. emerged
from a
dream

23. Ocean
health is
our health

24. What are
we doing
about it?

25. We work closely with partners
who share our vision
What are we doing about the problem?

26. We work closely with partners
who share our vision
What are we doing about the problem?

27. Fishermen go out with specific
nets, only with the intention to
catch plastic.
These kind of activities are only
organized in so called ‘plastic
hotspots’
What are we doing about the problem?

28. Waste that is generated on the
ship, including ‘by catch’ of
fishing activities.
WFO is making sure that all
waste ends up in the recycling
stream instead of the sea
What are we doing about the problem?

29. Specific big bags are donated to
the fishermen that can easily be
dropped at the harbor of choice
(growing network of
participating harbors).
How are we trying to find a solution?

30. Bales of recovered plastic
are sent to Closed Loop.
How are we trying to find a solution?
Tom Domen, long-term innovation
manager at Ecover, stands on a bale of
recovered plastic at Closed Loop’s
recycling plant.

31. The recovered plastic is
shredded into small
pieces and molten into
Ocean Plastic pellets
How are we trying to find a solution?

33. ©Andrew Hughes

34. noun, bio/mim/micry
Biomimicry is the imitation of the
models, systems, and elements
of nature for the purpose of
solving complex human
problems.[1] The terms
biomimetics and biomimicry
come from Ancient Greek: bios,
life, and mimisis), imitation
How have we designed the bottle?

35. How have we designed the bottle?

36. How have we designed the bottle?

37. Why are we
doing this?
Picture by Robert Bouwer

39. We want people to be
aware of this huge issue

40. We want people to be
aware of this huge issue
We want to be
part of the solution instead
of being
part of the problem

42. Be the catalyst for a more
systematic approach to
clean up the mess we have
created

43. Be the catalyst for a more
systematic approach to
clean up the mess we have
created
Take a step in our
ambition to create
restorative cycles

44. What’s
next?

45. Partnerships with
likeminded
organizations
Think thank sessions to
build scalable solutions
Have fishermen also
catch PET, fishing nets,
… Not only PE is
ocean plastic!
Cooperate with other
industries to use the
waste streams of
Ocean PE plastic

46. Radically rethink
packaging
Tackle the ocean
plastic problem at the
base
Make a commitment to
improve the % of
Ocean plastic yearly
You have our word!

48. Rudy De Vis
Business Development
&
Country Manager Benelux
devis.rudy@ecover.com
http://youtu.be/JkSnCr3-ICo
www.ecover.com