Kickstart: Zuzu the crab lends a claw to aid in recycling

Consumer products giant SC Johnson is getting a little crabby about recycling.

The Wisconsin-based maker behind brands such as Windex, Glade and Ziploc is one of the groups behind joinzuzu.com, a social media and video marketing tool focusing on an animated crab's attempt to recycle a water bottle from a beach in the Philippines.

SC Johnson is a longtime partner of Plastic Bank, Conservation International and EarthEcho International, groups working together to establish cleanup efforts in regions that lack recycling and waste infrastructure. That includes the Philippines.

A three-minute short film to launch JoinZuzu features the hermit crab Zuzu as it attempts to recycle a PET bottle that was accidentally left behind during a Plastic Bank beach cleanup. Zuzu ends up taking a long trip until reaching an SC Johnson facility that is converting waste collected in the Philippines into Windex bottles labeled as containing "recovered ocean plastic."

Expect to see Zuzu show up on social media posts and other outlets as the group works to increase awareness of cleanup efforts in advance of World Recycling Day on March 18.

The global plastics treaty talks are set to begin again in August, and despite a changed U.S. administration, some people maintain that it is still possible to get a strong agreement.

The U.S. Environment Programme said Geneva will host the discussions Aug. 5-14, attempting to pick up from discussions that ended in South Korea in December 2024 with nothing settled.

Plastics News' Steve Toloken notes that negotiators from countries in favor of more restrictions on plastics and packaging maintain they are still building momentum.

"We believe we can consolidate this large group of countries for an effective treaty," said Tormod Cappelen Endresen, Norway's ambassador to U.N. offices in Geneva. "It is something we can build on."

Some big auto parts operations may be about to go on the market as global supplier Forvia expands a strategic review looking to sell off some of its assets.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Martin Fischer, who took over as CEO of Forvia on March 1, said he intends to accelerate plans to divest some holdings.

"Over the last years you saw us rather disposing smaller assets or onboarding new investors on some of our existing activities," Fischer told Bloomberg. "What we are now targeting is really sizable businesses that we dispose of."

Nanterre, France-based Forvia's plastics operations include products from interiors business, which launched when it was known as Faurecia, and the lighting business of Hella, which it acquired in 2022. Its holdings include $153 million in injection molding sales at five plants in North America alone, according to Plastics News data.