Musician will.i.am and The Coca-Cola Company have partnered with Starwood’s W Hotels brand to bring recycled plastic products to properties across the world – promoting sustainability as a stylish lifestyle choice.
Will.i.am and The Coca-Cola Company have brought a new brand called Ekocycle to this chain of luxury hotels. Ekocycle has made branded sheets, manufactured using rPET – polyester partially made using recycled plastic. Starting in North America, with global expansion across all W sites expected, each king size sheet set uses approximately 31 recycled 20 oz (570g) plastic bottles. This equates to more than 268,000 plastic bottles across all W Hotel beds in North America.
Starwood claims guests won’t feel a difference. “The more sustainable sheets are made using the same high quality process as the W brand’s current bedding, with the only difference being the use of recycled polyester instead of new polyester,” reads a statement.
To recycle even more plastic, Ekocycle created the ‘Mobile Charger and Accessory Valet’ (MCAV) – a USB charging device that also acts as a jewellery/ watch stand and an alarm clock. Developed by Taipei-based engineering firm Miniwiz, the device is partially made from three recycled plastic bottles. It comes in six colours and will soon be on the nightstands of every W Hotel room around the world.
Ekocycle was born after
will.i.am was inspired to turn waste left behind at a Black Eyed Peas gig into recycled sought-after objects and joined forces with The Coca-Cola Company. Starwood Hotels, parent company of W Hotels, says it shares a similar positive vision for global sustainability.
The Ekocycle branded items have launched at the flagship W New York first, with plans to eventually roll out across all W sites worldwide.