iZettle, a member of the PayPal family, has launched the Ocean Reader, the world’s first card reader made from recycled ocean plastic. 75% of the Ocean Reader is made using fishing nets and ropes collected from the North and Baltic seas. Its creation follows research stating that 46% of the five trillion pieces of plastic polluting the ocean is made up of old fishing nets.
The project has already seen iZettle remove more than one tonne of plastic from the ocean and the Ocean Reader marks its first step to providing small businesses with products made from sustainable materials. The company hopes the initiative will be a catalyst for the entire industry to move towards more sustainable plastic use.
Jacob de Geer, the co-founder of iZettle, says, “Every day small businesses set out to make smart decisions, not just for their bottom line but for the planet too. iZettle’s mission is to help them succeed and when it comes to things like sustainability, we have a responsibility to do all we can. I’m proud that iZettle is launching the world’s first card reader made of recycled ocean plastics, but at the same time, it’s a failure of the entire industry that this is only happening now, in 2019. We all have to do better.”
Today, there are almost 125 million card readers in the world, and this number is expected to grow by 6% on average every year 2. iZettle’s ambition is that all new products it launches will include recycled materials by 2021.
iZettle launched the world’s first mini chip card reader and software for mobile devices in 2011. Today hundreds of thousands of small businesses use the iZettle Reader across Europe and Latin America. When it comes to functionality and power, the limited edition Ocean Reader is identical to the current iZettle Reader 2.
The Ocean Reader comes with a charging dock, which is also made from ocean plastic. Both are deep green in colour and no two readers are alike due to the nature of the recycled plastic. The Ocean Reader set will retail at the same price as the iZettle Reader 2 and dock at £98+VAT. iZettle will donate 20% of the sale price of each Reader to organisations committed to removing plastic from the oceans.
The Ocean Reader is produced with Oceanworks® Guaranteed recycled ocean plastics and certified by Oceanworks, the global recycled ocean plastics marketplace. CEO of Oceanworks, Rob Ianelli, says, “Oceanworks is very proud of the launch of the iZettle Ocean Reader 2 as we share many core values with the company. iZettle’s innovative approach to ‘payments with purpose’ will catalyze a powerful wave of change in many industries.”
Manufacturing & Engineering Magazine | The Home of Manufacturing Industry News
