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SDG 12&14 and Method Inc

“We have created a product that people said would be impossible. People would say there’s no way you can take plastic out of the middle of the ocean and make useable, recyclable packaging from it. Well, we’ve done just that.” – co-founder, Adam Lowry, Method Inc home products that “clean like heck and smell like heaven.”

At the turn of the millennium, Adam Lowry and Eric Ryan – who had been friends since childhood – put their heads together and decided to revolutionize the cleaning product market with stylish, eco-friendly & people-friendly products made with nontoxic ingredients that “clean like heck and smell like heaven.”

Since then, Method has grown to become a 100 million dollar company with a wide range of sustainable cleaning products in stores across the US, Canada and the UK.

As EMG found out when talking with co-founder Adam, the company has in some ways only just begun its journey to prove that sustainability minded business can be a powerful force for good in the world…

“When you study the problem of ocean pollution – which is mostly plastic – what you learn is that the only real solution is prevention. As you and I know, there’s no practical way of going there and cleaning up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. It’s not an island; it’s a soup, so the main issue is that any clean-up effort is impractical. The real solution is preventing the plastic from getting into the ocean in the first place. And if you’re going to do that, one of the very best ways to do it is to simply use the plastic that’s already on the planet.

However, recycling rates in the US and UK are very low. It’s estimated that less than half – perhaps as low as 25 percent – of plastics, get recycled, which means for every pound of plastic that’s recycled, three pounds end up in landfills or in the environment somewhere. So what we need to get better at is closing the material loop, and using the plastic that’s already on the planet.

This is something that Method has done for many years. There’s no virgin plastic material in any of the PET we make. On its own, this is not something that’s very interesting for the mainstream consumer to think about.

So what we wanted to achieve through the ocean plastic project was simultaneously raise awareness about this important issue and point to the solution. Essentially, we have created a product that people said would be impossible. People would say there’s no way you can take plastic out of the middle of the ocean and make useable, recyclable packaging from it. Well, we’ve done just that, and you can buy it at your regular supermarket. By demonstrating that the impossible is possible, we’re removing the excuse that any company has for not using 100 per cent post consumer recycle plastic, like we do.”

Interview with co founder Method Inc featured in Das Fachmagazin für den europäischen Recyclingmarkt/ The Business Magazine for the European Recycling Market November 2013