Teva Launches TevaForever Recycling Program with TerraCycle

Teva works to divert products from landfills with new sandal recycling initiative

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Apr 07, 2021, 06:00 ET

GOLETA, Calif., April 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Teva®, a division of Deckers Brands (NYSE: DECK), announces TevaForever, a partnership with international recycling leader TerraCycle®, dedicated to giving well-worn Teva sandals a new life. The recycling program reinforces Teva's commitment to reducing its environmental impact and keeping waste out of landfills.

Well-worn Teva sandals have a soul of their own, shaped by every wild adventure they've weathered. When they are ready to be retired, there has never been a great place to go—until now. Through the TevaForever Recycling Program, well-loved Teva sandals can be mailed to TerraCycle at no cost to the customer, diverting them from landfills so they can be recycled into something new. Teva's long-term vision is to work towards solutions to one day fully close the loop by recycling old Teva sandals into new ones.

"The partnership with TerraCycle is a huge step forward in our ongoing commitment to minimize our brand's environmental impact. The TevaForever Recycling Program gives our fans an easy way to join the cause, knowing we will give their sandals new life," says Anders Bergstrom, Vice President and General Manager of Teva. "We can't do this without our fans, and I'm thrilled to see the impact we will make together."

Participating in the program is simple. Customers may visit Teva.com to sign up and download a prepaid shipping label to mail in their sandals to TerraCycle. The recycling leader will clean the sandals and separate materials to prepare for processing. The processed material will be used by manufacturers to make a number of new products including playgrounds, athletic fields, and track ground cover.

"Teva sandal owners can now take comfort in knowing that when their favorite pair of sandals finally wears out, they won't experience any of the guilt that comes with throwing them away," said TerraCycle CEO and Founder, Tom Szaky. "The TevaForever Recycling Program offers consumers the opportunity to recycle their well-loved sandals while preserving the environment for generations to come."

The partnership with TerraCycle is the latest in Teva's ever-evolving commitment to reducing its environmental footprint. In addition to the brand's 2020 sustainability initiative, in which Teva transitioned 100% of its iconic straps to recycled plastic using REPREVE® yarn, the brand has achieved the following:

Since 2020, Teva has diverted over 40.2 million plastic bottles, equal to 755 tons of post-consumer plastic or 1,510,000 pounds of plastic, from landfills.
Teva has reduced its overall water usage and worked with its supply chain partners to improve their water conservation efforts.
Since 2017, Teva has saved 348 million gallons of water, thanks to its packaging improvements, and reduced the total weight of packaging used by 4.1 million pounds.
All of Teva's leather is sourced from tanneries certified by Leather Working Group; whose mission is to promote sustainable and appropriate environmental business practices within the leather industry. Teva also supports the Better Cotton Initiative, the largest cotton sustainability program in the world.
Since 2020, Teva reduced approximately 6.6 million pounds of Greenhouse Gas Emission (eq. Carbon Dioxide), 2.3 billion liters of water (or 622 million gallons of water), and 56 million MJ of energy (or equivalent to 437,740 gallons of gasoline).

For over 35 years, Teva sandals have enabled people around the world with more freedom to experience life's great adventures. In this next chapter, the brand is committed to improving its sustainable business practices so future generations are given the same opportunity to explore our planet for years to come. Visit Teva.com to learn more.

About Teva®:
In 1984, Teva created the world's first sport sandal on the banks of the Grand Canyon. The brand outfits free-spirited adventure-seekers all over the world with versatile, modern outdoor footwear. In 2020, Teva committed to reducing the brand's environmental impact by ensuring 100% of its iconic straps are made with recycled plastic, so future generations can continue exploring the wild world around them. Learn more about Teva, a division of Deckers Brands, at Teva.com or follow @Teva.

About TerraCycle®
TerraCycle® is an innovative waste management company with a mission to eliminate the idea of waste. Operating nationally across 20 countries, TerraCycle® partners with leading consumer product companies, retailers and cities to recycle products and packages, from dirty diapers to cigarette butts, that would otherwise end up being landfilled or incinerated. In addition, TerraCycle® works with leading consumer product companies to integrate hard to recycle waste streams, such as ocean plastic, into their products and packaging. Its new division, Loop, is the first shopping system that gives consumers a way to shop for their favorite brands in durable, reusable packaging. TerraCycle® has won over 200 awards for sustainability and has donated over $44 million to schools and charities since its founding more than 15 years ago and was named #10 in Fortune magazine's list of 52 companies Changing the World. To learn more about TerraCycle® or get involved in its recycling programs, please visit www.TerraCycle.com.

SOURCE Teva