You’ll never recycle alone: Liverpool FC and SC Johnson unite on plastic bottle circularity

23 Sep 2021 --- Household cleaning brand manufacturer SC Johnson is partnering with Liverpool Football Club (LFC) to create a closed-loop recycling system for the more than 500,000 plastic bottles used at the UK’s Anfield football stadium each year.

The initiative will be the first in a series of projects titled “Goals for Change” to boost environmentally sustainable practices among LFC fans globally.

Fans attending matches at the stadium will now be able to place used plastic beverage bottles in special containers, which SC Johnson will then repurpose into its new household consumer product, the Mr. Muscle trigger bottle.

Speaking to PackagingInsights, an SC Johnson spokesperson remarks on the importance of tackling plastic waste at sports stadiums.

“This is the first UK professional sports team to link a waste stream to a specific product, closing the recycling loop and tackling one of the biggest barriers to plastic recycling globally. Not only does this partnership allow fans to make a hands-on impact, but it also raises awareness about recycling.”

The Red Way
This year, LFC launched “The Red Way” – the club’s vision for reducing its environmental footprint. Actions taken through the project include offsetting 435 metric tons of carbon emissions and encouraging biodiversity by planting 635 new trees and 6,000 plants at the club’s new AXA Training Centre.

The SC Johnson spokesperson highlights the partnership as another step in its efforts to boost sustainability through professional sports.

The scheme will save half a million bottles from Anfield each season.“We are continually looking for like-minded partners to support our ambitions of creating a waste-free world,” they say.

“We started this program with the Milwaukee Brewers of the Major League Baseball and Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association – two Wisconsin, US-based teams that offered us a way to connect with the community in our backyard.”

SC Johnson’s eco-strides
Since 2018, SC Johnson has cut 6.1 million kg (67,240 metric tons) of unnecessary or problematic plastic packaging from its products.

In 2019, the company announced an expanded global partnership with Plastic Bank to stop plastic waste from entering the ocean. As part of the three-year partnership, it pledged to collect 30,000 metric tons of ocean-bound plastic – the equivalent of preventing approximately 1.5 billion plastic bottles from entering the world’s oceans.

In the same week of the Goals for Change partnership launch, the company also began “The Blue Paradox,” a first of its kind immersive educational experience in London to help raise awareness about ocean plastic pollution. The project aims to inform people how businesses, government, NGOs, and individuals can collectively impact this issue.

Last year, it unveiled a new line of Mr. Muscle Platinum Window & Glass cleaner, made from 100 percent post-consumer recyclate.

Sports stadium recycling loops
SC Johnson is not the only company attempting to tackle waste through sports stadiums. Last year, Ball partnered with Kroenke Sports and Entertainment to launch aluminum packaging recycling systems and educational initiatives in three major sports stadiums in the US and UK.

The collaboration sees the Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado replacing all cans, cups and bottles with aluminum alternatives and introducing a closed-loop recycling system by 2022.

By Louis Gore-Langton

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