The Body Shop is using experiential marketing to tell people about the plight of waste-pickers in India and how it is aiming to help them by paying a fairer price for their work.
It has commissioned a portrait of a female waste-picker made from 1,500 recycled plastic items hand-collected by waste-pickers in Bengaluru. The perceptual installation is on display in London’s Borough Market during 10-11 May.
The retailer has focused on finding sustainable ways to recycle plastic that supports people who do the job and is partnering an organisation called Plastics for Change, which runs a Fairtrade-style programme producing what The Body Shop calls Community Trade recycled plastic.
The Body Shop has committed to purchase more than 900 tonnes of Community Trade recycled plastic over the next three years.
Lee Mann, global community trade manager at The Body Shop, said: "Our new partnership with Plastics for Change and our other partners will not only help support waste-pickers but also champion plastic as a valuable, renewable resource when used responsibly."
The Body Shop is also helping UK consumers recycle their empty packaging by starting an incentive scheme that rewards them for depositing five empty Body Shop products in its in-store recycling bins.