Unilever Japan Customer Marketing Co., Ltd.
Earn points by purchasing refill products and recycling used containersThe number of registrants for the “UMILE Program” has exceeded 1 million, and regional collaboration is expanding
Unilever Japan (Headquarters: Meguro-ku, Tokyo, President: Joy Ho) is a registrant of the eco-point program “UMILE Program” launched in November 2020 with the aim of creating a future where plastic does not become waste. The number has exceeded 1 million. Promote regional cooperation under the name of “Unite for Smile. UMILE”. Used plastic containers such as “Lux,” “Dove,” and “Clear” have been reborn as art that colors the town, volunteer bags for the city, and card cases with unique designs. It has arrived. We will continue this program to spread more eco-friendly habits and promote horizontal recycling of containers for daily necessities. We aim to transform.
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About the UMILE program
The “UMILE Program” started in November 2020 as a program that allows consumers to take action for the earth in a fun and affordable way in their daily lives. In this program, Unilever’s refill products, which use approximately 70 to 90% less plastic than bottles, are “buy and store”, and plastic containers that have been washed and dried after use at home are placed in collection boxes at partner stores. There are two ways to put it in and “recycle and save”,
You can accumulate points called “UMILE”. Accumulated UMILE can be exchanged for LINE points or donated to organizations working for children (1UMILE = 20 LINE points or ¥20 donation). About two years after its launch, the number of registered users of the official LINE account exceeded 1 million. There are 115 collection points for used plastic containers, including retail stores and railway stations, the number of collected UMILEs is 101,213 miles, and the collected amount of containers is 95,081g (as of December 14, 2022).
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Expanding cooperation with local communities through “Unite for Smile. UMILE” [Image 4
Community collaboration program “Unite for Smile. UMILE” logo Since March 2022, we have been promoting “Unite for Smile. UMILE”, which aims to build a local resource recycling model together with local residents, using the framework of the “UMILE Program”. Currently, we are collaborating with Shonan East Block in Kanagawa Prefecture (Fujisawa City, Chigasaki City, Samukawa Town), Saitama Prefecture, Hamamatsu City in Shizuoka Prefecture, Chofu City in Tokyo, Hiroshima Prefecture, Fukuoka City in Fukuoka Prefecture, Shimonoseki City in Prefecture, etc. (December 2022) As of March 14, in no particular order). Through public-private
partnerships, we collect used plastic containers, use recycled products, hold events and workshops for local residents, and call for cooperation in reducing the amount of plastic used and recycling. As part of this initiative, in Fujisawa City, Kanagawa Prefecture, on December 13, 2022 (Tuesday), Enoshima public toilets will be beautified and greened. We washed and pulverized the used refill pouches collected through the UMILE Program and reused them for the artwork “Weathering Island” on the wall of the toilet and the surrounding planter “Sunago”. We will convey the importance of resource recycling while brightly coloring the town with the power of art and plants. In addition, from November 2022, the plastic bags developed in the “UMILE Program” will be used as city collection bags (garbage bags). This bag contains 10% recycled plastic from Unilever Japan bottles and 25% plant-based biomass material. In the future, these bags will also be used at garbage pick-up events in the city, and UMILE will be given to those who participate.
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“Weathering Island”: Art made from recycled containers collected through the UMILE program with the motif of the legend of Benzaiten and dragons handed down in Enoshima (produced by Art Moriya Co., Ltd.) [Image 6
UMILE original planter: A planter that reuses collected containers is lit up with “Botanical Light” (provided by Green Display Co., Ltd.), in which the plants generate their own power.
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Volunteer bags from Fujisawa City, Kanagawa Prefecture
Bottles such as “Dove” become the only card case in the world Furthermore, from December 6, 2022 (Tuesday), a collaboration between Unilever Japan and Reflect Art Co., Ltd. will
A card case made partly of the used plastic containers collected through the UMILE Program is sold at the Monoto Art Yokohama Red Brick Warehouse (Address: Yokohama Red Brick Warehouse No. 2, 1-1 Shinko, Naka-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa). Sold on the 1st floor / About 6 minutes on foot from Minatomirai Line “Bashamichi Station” or “Nihon Odori Station” / Business hours: according to the facility). The pattern of the card case is all hand-painted by the artist, based on the blue color of the package of “Dove” used as the material this time.
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UMILE original card case
Unilever’s commitment to plastic
Since 2019, Unilever has been working to reduce the amount of plastic used as part of its global growth strategy, the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan (USLP). Furthermore, in October 2019, we expanded our existing goals and announced the following four goals. Currently, under the Unilever Compass, the successor plan to the USLP, we are promoting “Less Plastic” (reducing the amount of plastic used by reducing the weight of packages and launching refills), “Better Plastic” (recycling By combining the three approaches of “No Plastic” (replacement with paper, metal, glass, etc.), we aim to minimize the environmental impact. At the same time, we are making it possible to utilize plastic as an important resource. In addition, we are working with external partners to create a system for the separate collection and recycling of used packages, verify horizontal recycling
technology, and build new business models such as sales by weight. For more information, please visit the Unilever Japan website:
https://www.unilever.co.jp/planet-and-society/approach-to-plastic/ Details about this release:
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