CASE STUDY: THE GIANT SHIRT, Kaufland Romania in partnership with 11even Association

Project strategy

„A small PET for man, a Giant T-shirt for mankind” – this was the motto of the recycling promotion project, started by the 11even Association, with the support of Kaufland Romania and the Romanian Rugby Federation, through which the organizers proposed to achieve a Guinness World Record for the largest T-shirt in the world, made entirely of recycled plastic fabric, derived from the recovery of over 250,000 PETs.

Objectives

The record for „The world’s largest recycled plastic T-shirt” was certified by Guinness World Records on International Earth Day, celebrated on April 22nd, at the Arch of Triumph rugby stadium in Bucharest, in the presence of 1,500 spectators. The Giant’s T-shirt weighed about 4 tons and was similar in size to a rugby field, measuring 108.96 meters long and 73.48 meters wide.

Alignment to business

For Kaufland Romania, a business objective is to collect as many recyclable containers as possible at the separate collection machines, and this was the basis of the mechanism for the „Giant T-shirt” campaign, which thus developed a creative idea to encourage recycling and learning responsible behaviors. Moreover, the campaign was also a form of testing the collection capacity of the devices, in order to prepare for the implementation of the Guarantee-Return System.

Impact and Results

The „Giant T-shirt” initiative was designed from the very beginning on sustainable principles, with the objectives of encouraging the separate collection and recycling of plastic waste, and citizens from all over the country responded positively to the invitation to recycle. In the collection campaign, more than 500,000 PETs were deposited at the machines in Kaufland stores, double the amount needed to make the T-shirt. Moreover, more than 3,000 people and 132 other sports teams registered on www.tricoudeurias.ro, for the raffle with prizes offered by the organizers.

In addition, over 12,000 T-shirts for adults and children were produced from the material used for the Giant T-Shirt, most of which were donated throughout the year during the Bucurie în Mișcare events, one of the most important programs to promote sport movement in Romania, organized by the 11even Association, with the support of Kaufland Romania.

Some of the shirts became equipment for several sports clubs in the country, mainly rugby.

Project communication

The project enjoyed a comprehensive communication campaign, adapted to the stages of project implementation – collecting PETs, making the T-shirt and achieving the world record, which took place on several channels and consisted of promoting the campaign at collection machines and in Kaufland stores, radio spots, digital campaigns and more than 100 appearances in national and local press, with an audience of more than 1 million people.

The Case Study is also published in the bilingual yearbook Community Index Magazine no. 5. You can flip through it here: https://communityindex.ro/community-index-magazine-2023/