Closing The Loop: Will&Able Joins Forces With Z Energy And Anchor Milk For Recycling Pilot

Charity and social enterprise Will&Able is launching a pilot scheme with partners Z Energy and Anchor Milk. From today, dedicated recycling bins will be popping up at select Z stations around the country, encouraging Kiwis to drop off empty Will&Able containers in aid of reducing plastic waste and contributing to a circular economy.

Will&Able, an eco-friendly cleaning product brand, is dedicated to employing people with disabilities, who can struggle to find permanent employment elsewhere.

All bottles collected will be reused by Will&Able as part of the company’s wider recycling efforts. Participating Z site staff will also contribute empty Anchor milk bottles to the bins to be recycled into other useful products by Will&Able.

Z’s Head of Community and Sustainability, Abbie Bull, says the key enabler of the pilot is the partners’ willingness to work differently to deliver. “By collaborating with Will&Able and Anchor, we strive to create greater long-term value for our local communities and our environment.”

Sustainability is a key driver for Will&Able, and supporting a circular economy is important to the business, alongside its social proposition. This is the social enterprise’s second major community drop- off partnership – customers can already return Will&Able bottles to 70 Aon Insurance branches nationwide.

The pilot extends their container return scheme and is an expansion of Will&Able’s closed loop recycling model – the range of eco-friendly cleaning products is already sold in bottles made from 100 percent recycled milk bottles.

Bringing Will&Able recycling bins to handy community locations will make it easier for customers to return their used containers to avoid plastic ending up in landfills and create more jobs for disabled people, spreading the impact to communities around New Zealand.

Will&Able has big plans for growth. Craig Burston, Will&Able’s General Manager, says they’re looking to add over 100 people to their workforce by 2025. “The more products we sell, the more jobs we can create for people with disabilities. I see every day how much meaningful work means to our team, and I’m excited as we look to extend these opportunities to more people.”

“We want Kiwis to get behind this initiative so that we can look at rolling it out nationwide, in turn creating more jobs for people with disabilities” says Burston.

Economic researchers BERL has estimated social enterprises contribute up to $1.8 billion in GDP annually, plus several billion dollars more in social and environmental value. As a social enterprise with people at its heart, Will&Able is the epitome of business adding value to communities.

Will&Able is New Zealand’s only range of eco-friendly cleaning products creating jobs for Kiwis with disabilities, and is available from Woolworths and Foodstuffs supermarkets nationwide and online.

The dedicated recycling bins will be located in Auckland, Taranaki, Wellington, and Christchurch. To find out more information and which stores visit www.willandable.co.nz.

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