Levi’s, MCM, RVCA and Case-Mate have joined Ekocycle, an initiative to brand recycled products and encourage sustainability among young consumers, according to Coca-Cola and musical artist will.i.am, who partnered to create Ekocycle this summer.
They join two anchor partners, New Era and Beats by Dr. Dre.
The Coca-Cola Company has also announced it will make a minimum $1 million financial commitment over the next five years to support additional recycling and community improvement organizations. This donation is in addition to, and separate from, the charitable commitments of 1 percent of operating profits made through The Coca-Cola Foundation, the company says.
Ekocycle helps consumers identify lifestyle products, from clothing to headphones, made in part from recycled materials such as plastic bottles and aluminum cans.
The new products that will carry the Ekocycle brand include:
- Case-Mate Barely There, a smartphone case, molded from 100 percent recycled PET and sold at Best Buy stores.
- New Era caps made from recycled fabric that consists of a traditional polyester fabric and recycled plastic. The Ekocycle Cap Collection includes two caps: a 59Fifty fitted (pictured) and a 9Fifty strapback cap.
- Levi’s 501 Waste<Less jeans, made with an average of eight recycled assorted plastic bottles per pair. The company announced the limited-edition denim last week and says the Waste<Less products will utilize more than 3.5 million recycled bottles.
The first Ekocycle product, Beats by Dr. Dre headphones, is now available to consumers.
Additional collaborations will be announced next year with brand products ranging from everyday pieces to luxury items, according to Coke.
Earth911, the US’s largest recycling directory, will provide an interactive and searchable recycling directory for consumers at Ekocycle.com.
Earlier this month, Coca-Cola Enterprises announced it is investing €6.5 million ($8.4 million) in a PET recycling facility, and introducing research aimed at influencing consumer recycling behavior. CCE said it is establishing the joint venture in France with PET recycler APPE to boost the capacity of its plastics reprocessing facility by 70 percent.