Exclusive: Why Stanley is Investing in a Free Recycling Program for its Used Drinkware

Stanley 1913 can certainly show the receipts when it comes to sustainability. Its reusable drink containers are durable, giving them a longer life, and they’re manufactured with an impressive 65% recycled materials. The brand, founded by inventor William Stanley Jr. in 1913, has even made supply chain investments to ensure that its suppliers are using renewable energy sources in their processes. Emily Cichy So the “natural next step” in Stanley’s sustainability journey was to provide its customers with “a more sustainable selection at the end of their use” of the product, according to Emily Cichy, Head of Sustainability and Social Impact at PMI WW Brands (Stanley 1913). In an exclusive interview with Retail TouchPoints, Cichy shared how the new “Take Back” program, which kicks off today, extends and strengthens the brand’s sustainability impact. To participate in the Take Back program, Stanley customers log the product they want to turn in at Stanley1913.com to receive either a prepaid shipping label or QR code (for a package-free return), allowing the product to be shipped at no cost to the consumer. As a thank you, consumers then receive a $5 credit toward their next Stanley 1913 purchase and a $5 donation is made to Ocean Conservancy for each eligible product that’s returned (up to four per year). Dropoff locations include FedEx and Kohl’s stores. Retail TouchPoints (RTP): What was the motivation behind the Take Back program, and how does it fit into Stanley 1913’s overall approach to sustainability? Emily Cichy: We already drive sustainability with the material that makes up our products, so we wanted to know: What’s the next life for that material? We believe our consumers are making a sustainable choice when choosing Stanley, and using it sustainably in their daily lives, but we also recognize that consumers’ lives and needs are changing, and that what worked for them a year ago isn’t necessarily what they need today. Allowing consumers to make that sustainable choice at the end of the product’s life is enabling for both our fans and consumers. RTP: How does the recovery process work after Stanley receives these used items? Cichy: Overall, we want to recover as much of the material that’s still usable to ensure it can be used again. Metal is the largest component of our products, and it’s a highly recyclable material. In fact, in manufacturing our products, we use 90% recycled stainless steel, and it’s the most impactful thing we can do from a sustainability standpoint. However, most curbside recycling — the “blue can” — can’t accept metal; in many cases it would have to be taken to a specialized sorting location, so one of the important things with this project is bringing metal recycling to the consumer in the simplest, easiest way. In addition to metal there are plastic lids, plastic straws and handles, so we’ve partnered with a materials recovery provider. The first step is disassembling the product, and then the materials themselves will be separated and recovered into separate streams. Another goal of ours is driving the marketplace for recycled content [with our contributions to these post-consumer streams]. RTP: Consumers’ commitment to sustainability has waxed and waned over the past several years. How confident are you that Stanley customers will participate in this program? Cichy: There’s a lot of evidence now that consumers want to make sustainable choices, but they don’t always have the right guides or information to do that — and of course some categories are more evolved than others. With the Take Back program, we’re very much in test-and-learn mode. It’s a relatively new type of program in the industry at large, so there are not a lot of comparisons to make in terms of [projected adoption rates]. In fact, one of the things our team likes is the opportunity to learn how consumers adopt this program. You can come back to us in six months’ time to see what the results have been. RTP: What’s the big-picture motivation for Stanley 1913 in creating this program? Cichy: Sustainability is at the heart of our mission, values and vision — it’s not something we’re doing “on the side.” All of these initiatives are transformational investments in the brand, because it’s always been part of who we are.