SC Johnson has found a new use for the more than 1 million plastic cups used annually at Miller Park.
Starting this season, those cups will be recycled into spray bottles for the company’s Scrubbing Bubbles bathroom cleaning solution.
That’s thanks to a new partnership between the Racine-based manufacturer and the Milwaukee Brewers, which aims to address rising global concerns about the negative impact of plastic waste on the environment.
Officials of both organizations announced the initiative on Friday during a press conference at Miller Park, saying the Brewers are the first pro sports team in the country to “link a waste stream to a specific product.”
“We all need to work together to help close the plastic recycling loop, and I hope this first-of-its-kind initiative with the Brewers will serve as a model for other major league teams, companies and even other sports leagues,” said Fisk Johnson, chairman and chief executive officer of SC Johnson.
Beverages will be served in new SC Johnson-branded cups that fans will be instructed to place in designated receptacles, separating them from other waste. SC Johnson will collect the cups to use in the making of Scrubbing Bubbles bottles.
A season’s worth of plastic cups, about 1.3 million, would makes approximately 700,000 Scrubbing Bubbles bottles, said Johnson. That’s about 10% of total bottles sold.
“It’s a step,” Johnson said. “It’s not the solution, but it’s a step froward.”
The partnership also includes organized “Clean Up Days” and philanthropic contributions with select players. In addition, SC Johnson and the Brewers will make a donation to the “Players for the Planet” initiative, which works to reduce ocean plastic, for each save recorded by a Brewers pitcher.
“(Plastic waste) a staggering problem,” said Rick Schlesinger, president of business operations at the Brewers. “It’s a little daunting to try to tackle it, but doing this program is one of the steps we can do as a community organization and a social institution to give back and help do something that everyone of our fans who drinks a beer or a soda at Miller Park will be part of.”
As part of its green initiatives, SC Johnson has rolled out a number of products that incorporate post-consumer recycled plastic.
Since 2015, the company has used 100% post-consumer recycled plastic in its Windex line, and last year, it announced that Windex packaging would be made entirely from 100% recycled ocean-bound plastic. The company’s products also include liquid concentrated refills, compostable plastic bags, recyclable paper bags and fully reusable silicon bags.
