Inside Glad’s latest partnership to expand recycling access
By John Cogswell, manager – Corporate Communications
Our Glad® brand is building a future with less waste and helping communities recycle along the way.
It joined forces with Recyclops, a technology-enabled sustainability and recycling startup, to reach more than 100,000 U.S. households that don’t currently have access to recycling options.
How it all started
In developing its 2030 sustainability strategy, our Glad brand looked across the product lifecycle to identify opportunities to reduce waste. The team set targets related to the product itself as well as to packaging and production, all of which we control.
It also decided to look beyond those to amplify its impact, identifying bigger challenges facing the waste management industry as a whole, like recycling.
Recycling is key to building a more sustainable, circular economy, yet many U.S. households don’t have access to the services they need. To make matters worse, recycling services are becoming more expensive for municipalities to manage, leading to the cancellation of many programs.
The result? Today, 38% of U.S. households don’t have access to local recycling pickups.
So the Glad brand — in partnership with our Office of Strategic Alliances team — set out to change that. The first step was finding a partner with the capabilities and infrastructure to provide recycling options in places that don’t offer them currently. Recyclops was the ideal choice.
How the partnership works
Recyclops is a subscription recycling service that provides recycling pickups on a weekly or biweekly basis to consumers in areas that don’t have easy access to recycling.
Best of all, it’s easy to use. Consumers can sign up via the Recyclops website to start receiving scheduled, recurring pickups. They simply place recyclables in a transparent, Glad trash bag and a local driver will pick up the items and deliver them to recycling facilities.
Founded in 2014, the company currently serves more than 10,000 households in nearly 100 cities across 10 states. It diverted more than 3 million lbs. of recyclables from landfills in 2020 alone.
Our Glad brand, joined by Lerer Hippeau, led a $3-million seed round investment in Recyclops to further support development of the startup’s proprietary technology and bring recycling to areas where it doesn’t currently exist.
“We’re excited to make this investment in Recyclops and re-envision how we can partner with external companies to create enduring loyalty for our brands,” said Rory Wehrlie, director – Office of Strategic Alliances. “This unique partnership allows Glad to leverage Clorox’s play-to-win mindset, while accelerating innovation to create a superior consumer experience.”
What’s next?
Together, our Glad brand and Recyclops will help expand recycling access to more than 1,000 U.S. cities in three years and reach more than 100,000 households currently without recycling options.
“This partnership gets us to a place where we can be a leader in the sustainable waste space,” said Chris Neel, associate director – brand engagement for Glad. “We’re picking up the mantle of encouraging people to be more sustainable and providing solutions to help them in that journey.”
Interested in learning more? Visit the Glad website to learn more about the partnership and Glad’s 2030 sustainability goals.