Natural and organic skincare brand Weleda has partnered with recycling experts Terracycle to ensure that all Weleda packaging can be recycled within the UK.
Although the brand’s glass bottles, aluminium tubes and plastic bottles are widely recyclable via local council kerbside collection schemes, some regions don’t offer this service for the mixed plastics used in its ‘soft touch’ plastic tubes, even if they are recyclable, as sorting machinery and recycling facilities vary from county to county.
Customers who can’t recycle their Weleda tubes locally can now return empties to a local collection point. Terracycle then issues credits for the waste collected and these can be redeemed against charitable donations, with the recycled plastics going on to be made into new products such as furniture or playground equipment.
Through the partnership with Terracycle, Weleda will raise funds for the Global Penguin Society, a charity that protects penguins around the world, the plight of which was seen in Sir David Attenborough’s Dynasties series. Every 10kg of Weleda packaging recycled with Terracycle in 2019 will raise nearly £10 for the charity.
There are reports of some species of penguins trying to eat plastics when feeding in the ocean. We ourselves have found penguins almost strangled with the handle of plastic bags and in one case we found one penguin with a plastic bottle around its neck.
“Every year, nine million tons of plastic ends up in the ocean, and there it can be lethal,” explains Global Penguin Society founder Pablo Borboroglu. “700 marine species have been reported to have eaten or been entangled in plastics. There are reports of some species of penguins trying to eat plastics when feeding in the ocean. We ourselves have found penguins almost strangled with the handle of plastic bags and in one case we found one penguin with a plastic bottle around its neck. It is not unusual to find different kinds of plastics in their nests. Every single one of us can play a part by making small changes to our daily lives.”
Weleda’s new Packaging for Penguin Conservation campaign launched on Penguin Awareness Day on 20 January and will run throughout 2019.
