GoodPop will join the clean ocean movement, making history as the first food brand to receive its Plastic Neutral Product Certification, the company stated.
GoodPop is a frozen treat brand that exists to do good in the world, offering cleaned-up, dairy-free alternatives to classics like Orange n' Cream, Cherry n' Lemonade and Chocolate Vanilla Sandwiches. The two-year agreement with the frozen treat maker and the country's premier ocean clean up company will offset more than half a million pounds of plastic from packaging and fund ocean, river, and coastline cleanup efforts around the world.
GoodPop and 4ocean's ocean-positive sustainability partnership kicked off with a shoreline cleanup in Boca Raton, Fla., on Good Deeds Day, April 16, with 120 ponds of trash and plastic recovered in a single day. Over the next two years, GoodPop will offset its plastic footprint by purchasing one 4ocean Plastic Offset Credit for every pound of plastic used in its packaging. 4ocean will then remove one pound of plastic waste from the ocean for each credit purchased by GoodPop. Together, they will pull 500,000 pounds of plastic from the ocean based on GoodPop's offset.
"Nurturing a healthy environment is a key area of focus for GoodPop and Pledge Good Foundation, and this plastic neutral certification is a huge step forward in our sustainability efforts that align our product with our mission," said Daniel Goetz, CEO and founder, GoodPop. "We're proud to be part of the impactful work 4ocean is doing to protect our oceans and we hope our involvement inspires other brands to join this cause. Together, we can make a difference in keeping our oceans clean."
About 40 million metric tons of plastic waste is produced each year, according to the UN Environmental Programme, with global production of primary plastic forecasted to reach 1,100 million metric tons by 2050. Approximately 36% of all plastics produced are used in packaging, including single-use plastic products for food and beverage containers — 85% of which ends up in landfills or as unregulated waste.
4ocean is a premier ocean cleanup company dedicated to ending the ocean plastic crisis. Since 2017, its professional, full-time captains and crews have removed more than 28 million pounds of plastic waste and other man-made debris from the world's oceans, rivers, and coastlines.
"Cleaning the ocean mitigates the worst impacts of plastic pollution, but it's only half the battle. We must work together to address the root cause of the ocean plastic crisis and stop plastic pollution at its source," said Alex Schulze, co-founder and CEO, 4ocean. "Transitioning to the circular economy and designing waste out of the product life cycle is the most effective way to address the ocean plastic crisis and as we work towards that, we must do what we can with the resources we have now."
