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Creating an innovative recycling model

Drink cups are one of the biggest sources of plastic waste at sporting events around the world.

SC Johnson is teaming up with the Milwaukee Brewers Major League Baseball team to inspire and educate people about the potential for recycling plastic, while creating an imaginative new market for the plastic used in drink cups at their American Family Field ballpark.

A new recycling model
From ballparks to store shelves


To tackle this plastic waste issue, we’re creating a new market and new recycling model for these commonplace cups. 

How? Throughout the 2021 baseball season, clear plastic cups will be collected in specially-marked bins separate from other waste at the Milwaukee Brewers’ ballpark and then “upcycled” in our Scrubbing Bubbles® bottles.

Drink cups are one of the biggest sources of plastic waste at sporting events around the world.

We planned to put our idea into action during the 2020 season, but ballparks were closed to fans due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Now that the world is getting moving again, we’re excited to take action.

A home run with the Brewers
The first to turn a waste stream into a specific product


Now, crowds have another big reason to cheer on the Milwaukee Brewers — they’re the first U.S. professional sports team to turn a waste stream into a specific product. Through this initiative, SC Johnson and the Brewers are closing the recycling loop and tackling one of the biggest barriers to plastic recycling in the U.S. and globally: the lack of markets for recycled material. 

Today, only 13% of plastic packaging in the U.S. is recycled, and much of what is placed into recycling bins is unfortunately not recyclable at all. At SC Johnson, we’re committed to  challenging the status quo through partnerships and projects such as this one. Together with the Brewers, we’re raising awareness by calling attention to the importance of recycling, as well as collaborating on educational events.
I’m excited that the Brewers and SC Johnson are teaming up to bring greater awareness to important issues like recycling and ocean plastics. We can all make a positive impact in our homes, our communities and with this program in place, we can now make a direct impact at the ballpark.
Brent Suter - Pitcher, Milwaukee Brewers
Saves to save the planet
$28,000 donated to Players for the Planet


For each save recorded by a Brewers pitcher, SC Johnson and the Brewers are donating to Players for the Planet, which works to reduce ocean plastic. In 2020, the partnership contributed $28,000 to the program. 

Donations from the program have been used to help fund the Batting Clean-up program, mobilizing the Dominican Republic’s brightest baseball stars to draw attention to and demand change for the growing plastic crisis there. In addition, we are renewing our Save the Ocean program for the 2021 season in partnership with the Brewers where $1,000 for every save is expected to result in a $50,000 joint contribution with proceeds going to Players for the Planet and Earth Echo International.

So, now, when fans are rooting for the Brewers, they’re rooting for the environment, too. We hope that other sports teams and manufacturers will adopt this innovative new recycling approach, as we all come together to create change.