On Trash Talk, Marcy Trent Long speaks with Chester Cheng, our co-founder about how Carbon Wallet gives positive reinforcement to the general public’s environmentally friendly actions and motivates them to do more.
Carbon Wallet, Hong Kong's green lifestyle reward platform, has collaborated with six beauty brands and recycling partner V Cycle to launch a new recycling programme in celebration of Earth Day 2023.
The six brands include Fresh, L’Occitane, The Body Shop, Factiv, EVOLCARE and Melvita. This programme reflects a shared commitment to reduce plastic waste in the beauty industry and make sustainability more accessible in Hong Kong.
From 20 April to 30 June 2023, consumers can visit over 60 stores from six participating brands and earn Carbon Wallet (CW) Points by recycling their beauty empties from any brand.
The Beauty in Recycling: Joint Beauty Brand Recycling Programme 2023 sets itself apart from solo brand-led recycling schemes, this programme encourages consumers to recycle their beauty product empties by enhancing recycling accessibility with an extensive network of in-store recycling points.
The programme aims to collect and recycle more than 300,000 empties and save over 11,000kg of carbon emissions – the equivalent of 1 million smartphone charges, or the annual carbon absorption of 450 trees.
To participate in the programme, users are required to drop their empties in the in-store recycling boxes and submit a record of this activity using the Carbon Wallet App. By scanning the QR code on the recycling box, users will instantly receive 100 CW Points and get additional points depending on the type and quantity of recyclables.
New users will receive a free MTR ride when they fill in a brand-specific promo code during registration. They will also be entitled to special offers from their favourite beauty brands.
In a conversation with MARKETING-INTERACTIVE, Carbon Wallet's spokesperson said the programme is a great example of how retail brands can work together with Carbon Wallet. "With incentives powered by Carbon Wallet’s reward solution, brands can effectively boost customer engagement and loyalty through a compelling call to action. With our extensive reach, particularly among the environmentally conscious consumers, brands can demonstrate their ESG commitment to both their existing and potential customers in an easy and light-hearted way," the spokesperson added.
Leveraging on Carbon Wallet’s user base, the brand aims to be Hong Kong’s first choice integrated sustainability marketing platform for brands and companies who want to reach out to environmentally conscious consumers and promote sustainability campaigns and green product rewards/offers, drive genuine customer engagement via Carbon Wallet incentives, educate consumers on all green living happenings, trends and tips about green living.
Chester Cheng, co-founder of Carbon Wallet, said: "Earth Day is an important reminder of the impact we have on the environment and the need for collective action. Waste is an industry-wide challenge for beauty brands, with research showing that only 9% of product packaging is recycled. This programme is a perfect example of Carbon Wallet’s role as a platform uniting different industry players; we bring consumers and merchants who support sustainability together so that we can achieve more as a community."
Adeline Gall, general manager of The Body Shop, Hong Kong, said: "The Body Shop believes that business can be a force for good. We’ve set ambitious targets to make sure 100% of our packaging materials will be reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2030. In Hong Kong, we have a strong network of 16 Refill stations and provide a recycling programme in all 26 of our retail stores. We are pleased to partner with changemakers such as Carbon Wallet to bring these experiences to life with our customers and campaign for a positive and sustainable change for our community together.”