25 years ago, we made a promise. To do what’s right for you, your family and our world.

That is what’s at the heart of everything we do, and it means planet before profit.

Right now the recycling system we rely on is so overwhelmed, a lot of what goes in doesn’t come out recycled.

Instead, it piles up in landfills, drifts around our oceans or gets shipped overseas to someone else’s pile.

Our bottles are part of the problem.

So we’ve had to come up with a solution - the permanent bottle recall.

We want to keep them out of the landfills and oceans of the world, by getting them back and remaking them ourselves into new ecostore bottles.

But we need your help. Finish what’s inside, there’s nothing wrong with it.

Then return your bottles to us at your nearest ecostore bottle drop location.

Because the planet doesn’t need them, but we do.

We are issuing the first permanent bottle recall The planet doesn’t need them but we do

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Turning old packaging into new bottles.

What happens when you return your bottles.

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Copy about continuous loop

Recall Bottle Drop Locations

Use the map below to find all our bottle drop locations at participating specialty stores and schools.
Please check ahead with your local collection point, as some may be closed or not running bottle drops during various Alert Levels across New Zealand.

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There is nothing wrong with ecostore products. We just want our bottles back.

We have issued a permanent bottle recall because we want to change the way they are recycled. Currently they are contributing to a recycling system that is overloaded, which leads to plastic ending up in our oceans or being shipped overseas to become someone else’s problem.

To combat this we are creating our own closed loop recycling system. We want to get our bottles back so we can ensure they are remade into new ecostore bottles again and again.

So use what’s inside them – there’s nothing wrong with it. Then return the bottles to us through one of the many collection locations through the country.

Because the planet doesn’t need them, but we do.

Locations FAQs

Is the programme nationwide?: We have 100 bottle drop locations across the country. We might not currently have every single town covered, but we’re adding locations all the time. See our bottle drop location map for details.
Where can I drop off my bottles?: You can drop off your bottles to participating specialty grocery stores and schools in Auckland, Waiheke, Tauranga, Hawkes Bay, Wellington, Nelson, Christchurch, Dunedin and Invercargill. Our bottle drop locations can be found here. You can return bottles in our collection boxes with their lids on and preferably lightly rinsed and dried.

If you are a parent at a school, please check out the above list also to see if your school is a collection point.
When will you be expanding into more regions/cities for your drop off places?: We are working towards expanding the programme to more regions and schools in the future and will be keeping our customers informed on our social channels. Our first year of running the programme will be about learning and from here we can fine tune the system.

If you are an interested school please express your interest with this form.

If you are an interested specialty grocery store please express your interest with this form.

If you are an individual customer of ours wanting a solution please express your interest with this form to let us know what region we should take the programme to next.
I don’t live in an area near a drop off location. How do I get it back to you?: At the moment we are only running the schools programme in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch. Our specialty grocery store bottle drop locations include most regions across Aotearoa. We are working towards expanding the programme to more regions in the future and will be keeping our customers informed on our social channels.

General sustainability

Doesn't the council recycling system work?: We know from Waste Minimisation New Zealand that 39% of plastics goes straight to landfill in New Zealand. The rest is sorted in New Zealand but then most of it is shipped overseas for processing – some of it ends up in landfill. Council recycling systems are often stretched and overwhelmed. The ecostore Plastic Return Programme presents an opportunity to address this issue and at ecostore, we are committing to stepping up and taking responsibility for our packaging.
Your bottles are made from sugarcane - is this why they can’t go in the council recycling?: All ecostore bottles can go through council recycling. Sugarcane-based high-density polyethylene (HDPE) is identical to traditional high-density polyethylene (HDPE) plastic. This means our bottles are 100% recyclable. Read more about why we chose sugar plastic here. The reason we are creating this additional system is because the council kerbside recycling system is overwhelmed and as a business we want to step up and take responsibility for our packaging. We have created a circular system that ensures the bottles don’t even enter the recycling systems - instead they are collected, remade and reused right here in Aotearoa.
What is ecostore’s emissions strategy?: We are committed to a 1% reduction of our emissions per $1 of revenue year on year.

As a signatory to the Climate Leaders Coalition, ecostore has committed to:
• Measuring our greenhouse gas emissions & publicly reporting on them
• Setting a public emissions reduction target consistent with keeping within 1.5 degrees of global warming
• Working with our suppliers to help them reduce their greenhouse gas emissions

In 2019 we extended our CarboNZero certification to include not only our factory operations, but freight of our products, air travel and power in our New Zealand and Australia offices as well.
Next we want to investigate how our emission target aligns to global “science-based” emission targets set by the United Nations and The Science Based Target Initiative that sets out to keep global emissions within 1.5 degrees warming and well below 2 degrees warming.
How much carbon does it take to get your plastic back? Doesn’t this create another problem?: We are using an existing courier system through NZ Post and Courier Post to collect our bottles from each of the drop off locations. The NZ Post fleet is 50% electric with a commitment to being 100% electric by 2025. They’re also committed to helping their contract courier drivers move to electric vehicles. More details can be found on their website.

We are in the process of calculating the carbon footprint of returning our bottles to us through this programme. We know there will be emissions associated with returning the plastic back to us and are committed to continually innovating this system to reduce emissions where we can. Once we have baseline data of emissions from the programme we will offset these emissions within our CarboNZero certification.
How much water does it take to sanitise and refill your products? Why not do that?: We investigated washing and reusing our bottles but washing alone is not enough to manage any potential product contamination risks. Given we are focused on creating safe products we cannot put our product quality at risk. Having safe products for people’s health and the health of grey water systems is something we can’t compromise on.

So instead we are taking responsibility for our bottles through the ecostore Plastic Return Programme.
How much water is used to refill versus repurpose or recycle?: We are in the process of calculating our exact water footprint of remaking our bottles from returned bottles in the Plastic Return Programme. But we do know that the water required to remake our bottles as opposed to heat treat and refill them will be significantly less.
What happens to your collection boxes? Are they recycled?: Our recycling partner ensures all boxes are recycled and remade into new boxes. We have designed them so that they can be used in our system at least 3-4 times, with all boxes requiring minimal packing tape. It is important to us that our boxes remain in a circular system, just like the new circular system for our bottles.
Are the boxes FSC certified?: Our box supplier is both FSC and PEFC certified. This means our box supplier ensures boxes are sourced in line with environmentally and socially beneficial conditions for local people and the planet within their supply chain.
Do you refill the bottles going back to you?: The bottles we get back will be remade into new bottles. New Zealand health and safety laws require body care products to go through heat treatment phase to get rid of any contaminants. We break down bottles to be reused, as it requires less resources to break down bottles than wash out, heat treat them and refill.
You talk about the bottles. Is it the same process for your caps?: Our bottles are made out of sugarcane HDPE (#2) and recycled plastic, which along with #1 PET plastic, has the highest recycling value. Our lids are made out of polypropelene (#5) that are also recyclable – they will be a part of the circular system as well.
Do you accept your bulk bottles back in the Plastic Return Programme?: Yes, we do collect bulk bottles in the programme. However, our 20L bulk containers are not accepted at school drop off points.
How many times can ecostore bottles be recycled?: Plastic can be recycled many times but over time, it degrades. When using recycled plastic, it will be added to our sugar plastic mix which will ensure the bottles keep their strength and integrity. Our sugarcane plastic feedstock is a more sustainable material than petroleum-based plastic. Read more about sugar plastics sustainability here.
How many of your bottles will be remade from the bottles you get back? Will you need no new plastic?: We will use up to 75% of our returned plastic in our bottles. The remaining 25% virgin plastic going into our bottles will be sugar plastic to minimise bottle degradation risks.

When using recycled plastic, a small amount of new virgin plastic is added to keep its integrity. In which case we would add in our sugarcane plastic feedstock, a more sustainable material than petroleum-based plastic. Read more about sugar plastics sustainability here.
Why not encourage reusing and the refill stations instead of returning the bottles?: We continue to encourage our refill stations and are leading in this space with 75+ refill stations nationwide. But for widespread behaviour change we need multiple solutions to capture consumers who aren’t at the refilling stage of their waste minimising journey.
Where will bottles be processed?: All bottles will be processed in New Zealand. They will be chipped and then re-blown into new bottles. They will be filled at our factory in Pakuranga, Auckland.

Product recall

Is there something wrong with my product? Why are you doing a recall?: All of our products are completely safe.

The Permanent Bottle Recall is designed to grab attention, highlight the urgency of our plastic problem and demonstrate how Kiwis can be part of the solution. Simply finish your product and return the bottle to us.
Is it legal to do this?: Absolutely, and it’s essential for us to help ease the pressure on New Zealand’s overwhelmed waste and recycling systems.

Accepted in Collection Boxes

Why only ecostore bottles?: Right now, we can only accept ecostore bottles in our collection boxes. We’d love to take back all bottles, but our first year of running the programme will be about learning and from here we can fine tune the system.
Once we have a fine-tuned system in place, we’re keen to share our learnings with other companies to encourage them to take responsibility for their plastic waste.
What is accepted and what isn’t?: Our ecostore collection boxes accept the following;

We do accept any ecostore plastic bottles.
• A light rinse is preferable
• Scoops from laundry packs

What we don’t accept
• Glass bottles from our SKIN by ecostore range (these can go in your recycling, check your local council recycling page to see if the lid needs to be removed)
• Oral care toothpaste and toothbrushes (we have a separate collection you can read about here).
• Other brands’ bottles/plastic
• Laundry powder boxes (these can go in your council recycling)
Do we need to wash or remove lids and labels?: It’s preferable if you can lightly rinse and dry your bottles before returning them. Lids, pumps and triggers should be taken off and also popped into the bottle drop boxes separately.

Partners

How are New Zealand Post / Courier Post involved?: NZ Post, who runs Courier Post, helps power our collection system. Their fleet of drivers pick up the bottles from our bottle drop locations and drop them to us for processing.
Can I drop my bottles off to a NZ Post store?: No, NZ Post stores are not collection points. Our bottle drop locations can be found here.
What partners are involved in the programme?: We’ve partnered with NZ Post to collect our returned bottles from bottle drop locations, Astron who grinds and washes our plastic and Forward Plastic that melts and re-blows the returned plastic into new bottles.

We’ve partnered with participating specialty grocery stores, and schools in Auckland, Waiheke, Tauranga, Hawkes Bay, Wellington, Nelson, Christchurch, Dunedin and Invercargill to provide bottle drop locations for people to return their bottles.

We’ve also partnered with Enviroschools, who help us educate participating schools on sustainable business models such as the circular economy.
Why are you partnering with schools and specialty grocery stores?: We’ve partnered with schools, as they are passionate about helping the next generation learn about sustainability and the circular economy. We’ve also partnered with specialty grocery stores as a secondary bottle drop location which may be more convenient for people.