TERRACYCLE NEWS
ELIMINATING THE IDEA OF WASTE®
Venus Williams Created a Mineral Sunscreen That Doesn't Leave Dark Skin Looking Ashy
It's Venus Williams's literal job to be outside, so it comes as no surprise that the tennis superstar has long been hip to the importance of sun safety.
The only problem? It's tough to find a mineral sunscreen that doesn't leave behind an ashy white cast on dark skin once applied. Furthermore, certain SPF ingredients can wreak havoc on the environment — and Williams is well aware. In fact, that's what inspired her to create EleVen SPF products in partnership with Credo.
“As an athlete and professional tennis player spending most of my life outdoors, I was compelled to create a sun care collection I could use daily," she shared in a statement. "Safe for our planet and good for people of all skin shades and types, I hope to inspire others to get out, be active and stay healthy.”
The line is currently comprised of two powerhouse products: On-The-Defense Sunscreen SPF 30, along with the Unrivaled Sun Serum SPF 35.
The mineral sunscreen easily melts into all skin tones, leaving nothing behind, besides a clear semi-matte finish. As for the serum, the formula offers a more lightweight solution, combining hydrating skincare ingredients like prickly pear with SPF 35 for essential sun protection.
Along with both products providing 25% zinc oxide broad spectrum defense against UVA/UVB rays, they are also made using reef-safe formulas. Plus, On-The-Defense Sunscreen's tube is made from 40% PCR material and can be recycled through Credo’s TerraCycle program. While the Unrivaled Sun Serum's bottle is made completely from glass and is recyclable as well.
Both product's outer boxes are made from 100% recycled paper and soy-based ink is used for all of all of the labels.
Safe for the environment and our skin? You can go ahead and sign us up for this goodness, Venus!
New Mineral SPF from EleVen by Venus Williams
Pearly Whites Shine Bright Naturally
Kao’s ‘Air’ Bottle Leverages the Virtues of Lightweight Packaging
Kao’s new recyclable package for MyKirei personal care products — which uses up to 50% less plastic by weight than traditional rigid plastic bottles with pumps — embodies functional, emotional, and social benefits of a holistic sustainable design.
While the recyclability challenges of lightweighted packaging are of increasing importance to producers and consumers, the tremendous benefits of smaller, lighter packages must be acknowledged to find solutions that balance their virtues with more intuitive resource management.
Less material by weight equals fewer resources extracted from the planet, and less waste if disposed compared to heavier packages. For producers, less packaging brings down production costs overall, and with lighter, less voluminous shipments, transportation costs by weight, which are additionally offset by the ability to fit more items on a truck or pallet.
This translates for consumers, who enjoy increased access to products by the pricing and delivery of packaged goods in-store. Ecommerce relies heavily on lightweight packing material to maintain product quality from point A to B, and even “non-packaged” items such as clothing, fresh produce, and durable goods like furniture and automobiles are often packaged for distribution.
Lightweight packaging also lends itself to beauty and utility. Many packages are lightweighted by using plastic and other synthetics, which have near-endless potential for colorization, shaping, printing, and textures, often rendered to resemble wood, glass, and other high-value, aesthetically pleasing materials.
Flexibles and films, ubiquitous across the packaging supply chain, have versatile characteristics. In sachets, pouches, cling wraps, and bags (which recycling critic John Tierney calls, not inaccurately, “a marvel of economic, engineering, and environmental efficiency”), these thin plastics are cheap, strong, and often elegant in design, making lots of sense from a utilitarian and practical perspective.
It cannot be overstated that no lightweighted packaging material, namely plastics, in and of itself is at the crux of our issues with recyclability, pollution, and waste. It’s the way we use them, intentionally designing items to be thrown away in a global recycling system that isn’t equipped to effectively recover it for additional cycles of production.
But just as the material, shape, and size of package is part of the design, the creation of systems that ensure it is recovered and reintegrated it into the supply chain are, as well.
MyKirei is a new lifestyle brand launching in the US by Kao Corp. (makers of Bioré, Jergens, and Curél), with whom TerraCycle is partnered with in Japan. They are debuting the brand nationally with three products — Japanese Tsubaki & Rice Water Nourishing shampoo and conditioner, and Yuzu and Rice Water Nourishing hand wash — all of which are packaged in Kao’s patented “Air” Bottles, flexible film bottles filled with air pockets around the perimeter of the bottle to make it stand upright.
The innovative Air Bottles are said to use up to 50% less plastic by weight than traditional rigid plastic bottles with pumps. The brand promises the Air Bottles are 100% nationally recyclable through the recycling program we manage, free to consumers to use with the points incentive they can use to donate cash to charity.
Inspired by the Japanese philosophy of “Kirei” (which favors sustainability as well as beauty, cleanliness, simplicity, and balance), this collection of products is founded on the belief that care and respect for ourselves, our societies, and the world around us is key to simple, beautiful living. The brand hopes to inspire a gentle, more sustainable way of life.
With a recycling program and charity component developed as part of the product launch, vs. reactively down the road, MyKirei by Kao maintains and reinforces the functional, emotional, and social benefits of a beautiful, but typically non-recyclable, package with a holistic design approach.
Kao’s ‘Air’ Bottle Leverages the Virtues of Lightweight Packaging
TerraCycle reports on earnings tied to e-scrap
To the Point: Pens and Pencils Offer Eco-friendlier Features
Reducing Plastic
- Wheat straw and wheat husk, such as styles showcased on Eco Promotional Products Inc. The Wheat Straw ballpoint pen’s barrel is made with 45 percent wheat straw, which is leftover material after wheat grains are harvested. “The wheat straw in this pen reduces the amount of plastic used,” explains the website.
- Recycled cardboard, such as Eco-Pen Recycled Cardboard Fineliner Gel Pens on Amazon. “All Eco-Pens are made from 100% recycled plastic and cardboard,” the webpage says.
- Bamboo, such as the Panda Bamboo pen on Eco-Pens.com. The pen has a “bamboo wood barrel and cornstarch clip and tip made with 60% biodegradable materials.”
- Cork, such as the Recycled Cork Barrel Pen sold on Eco-Pens.com.
Recycled Plastic, Paper, & Other Materials

- Pilot B2P refillable gel ink and ballpoint pens are “made from 89% and 83% post-consumer recycled plastic bottles.”
- Recycled Tetra Pens, sold on Eco-Pens.com, contain recycled Tetra Pak “and similar food and beverage container materials.”
- Ticonderoga Renew pencils contain recycled wood scraps. “Less wood is used and less waste is created. Pencils are made with 53% pre-consumer recycled wood.”
- Recycled Denim Hex Pencils, available from The Pencil Superstore website, are “100% recycled denim blue jean pencils.”
- Greenciles pencils are made of recycled paper, including newsprint, printer paper, and stationery. “The paper is cleaned, reused, and wrapped around a safe graphite writing core,” says their website.
- Onyx and Green mechanical pencils, available on Amazon. The body of these pencils is made with recycled PET plastic. They ship “packaged in a recycled material package with soy based ink.”
Refillable Whiteboard Markers & Highlighters
- Refillable Whiteboard Markers from Pilot, made with 91 percent recycled plastic, according to a spokesperson from JetPens online store.
- Pentel Handy-line S Retractable and Refillable Highlighter
Responsible Purchasing, Packaging, & Discarding
In addition to evaluating what pens and pencils are made with, savvy shoppers also think about such facets as quantity, durability, packaging, and disposal. Purchase only what you need. “Do you really need the 10-pack of pens or will one or two pens be enough?,” queries Alex Payne publicist for TerraCycle, which recycles items not usually accepted in household recycling. When you’re done with them, don’t drop pens and pencils into recycling bins, unless you’re sure your recycling service accepts these items. Most facilities can’t process them, even if they’re made with recycled water bottles or newspapers. Due to mixed materials and other factors, pens and pencils are widely regarded as contaminants that interfere with efficient recycling, explained Robert Pickens, a member of Oklahoma Recycling Association. Other tips:- If possible, request or seek out items with little or no plastic packaging.
- Think about refillable pens, rather than single-use disposable styles.
- Look for manufacturers that offer recycling or take-back programs, Payne recommends.
- Discard pens responsibly so they don’t wind up as litter or ocean pollution.
- TerraCycle offers recycling opportunities for pens. One option is the BIC Stationery Recycling Program, which accepts pens, markers, mechanical pencils, and other eligible items for free.