The bottle containing the washing-up liquid "Handy Fresh Ocean" from Migros – the largest retail trading company in Switzerland – is, according to the manufacturer, produced from plastic waste, which the Swiss company, tide ocean SA, collects in coastal regions. This waste is sorted, cleaned and processed into plastic granules. The material produced from this is used for the production of new products such as the Migros bottle.
 

In the blue bottle containing "Handy Fresh Ocean" washing-up liquid from Migros, use is made of plastic recovered from marine litter. This is apparently the first time that a product made from marine litter has found its way onto the Migros shelves. "Migros has committed itself to fighting plastic pollution of the seas, and wants to gain fresh experiences with the use of plastic recovered from the ocean as packaging material," explains Claudia Regenass, head of sustainability at the Migros subsidiary, Mibelle Group. After use, the empty containers can be returned to the collection of plastic bottles and thus recycled again.
 
The Migros partner company, tide ocean, collects the plastic litter from islands and coastal regions in southeast Asia, sorts and recycles it locally and produces plastic granules, namely the #tide ocean material®. The ecological footprint of the #tide ocean material® was calculated in a lifecycle analysis and its use is said to save up to 80 percent of CO₂ emissions compared with virgin material. Tide ocean was founded in 2019. Together with engineers from the technical college in Rapperswil SG, the company developed a process for producing granules from the plastic waste, which can then be processed into a new plastic. Recycling stations have been built in Thailand, on the Philippines and in Indonesia. According to tide ocean, anyone who collects and sorts the plastic litter in these countries receives social insurance. Apart from that, the company organises workshops at schools that are managed by local people who explain all there is to know about the problem of plastics. Also on remote islands such as Koh Chang, Surin or Koh Ra, tide ocean says it has set up infrastructure projects and collection points, so that plastic waste can also be collected and recycled there. This includes maintaining fishing boats with which the plastic litter is transported to the land.
 
Sources:

• Migros Magazin 5/2023
• corporate.migros.ch (9.10.2023)
• tight.earth/de
• Photo: © Migros