A container made of 50% plastic collected from the ocean has gone on sale in the UK.
Ecover believes its limited edition ocean washing-up liquid bottle is the first container to have such a high ocean plastic content.
The bottles are made from eight tonnes of plastic collected from the Rio De Janeiro bay as part of a clean-up to prepare for the 2016 Olympics. The collection produced 250,000 bottles to be sold across Europe.
Ecover has also announced it is to only use 100% recycled plastic for its main washing-up liquid range next year, and across all products by 2020, and is to introduce recycled plastic into its caps for the first time.
The limited edition bottle will sell for a recommended retail price of £2 at selected Tesco stores nationwide.
Researchers estimate that eight million tonnes of plastic pollution enters the ocean globally every year.
Ecover spokesman Tom Domen said: “We launched our first ocean bottle in 2014 to raise awareness of the impact of ocean plastic on marine life. It’s great that the issue has shot up the agenda now but the debate for us needs to move on.
“We need to totally re-think plastic. How we make it, use it, re-use it and recycle it. We think industry should take more responsibility because a durable material like plastic for single use is systemically wrong.
“We know it’s just the beginning but these are the steps we need everyone to take if we’re serious about cleaning up the ocean and reducing our dependence on plastic.”