Disclosures in Support of Environmental & Social Claims
Cozycove USA, Inc.
Cozycove USA, Inc. is committed to making explicit, clear and independently verifiable claims in accordance with Section 4.4 of the Guidelines for Corporate Plastic Stewardship. This includes any claims made with respect to Environmental and Social impact.
Specifically, Cozycove is making the following Environmental and Social Claim, adhering always to the disclosure text provided in the box below in all its associated public disclosures:
“Plastic Neutral – for every unit used, one recycled; recycling plastic, supporting families”
The use of Plastic Collective’s proprietary certification ecolabel (see header) is approved on the basis of Cozycove adhering to the disclosure text provided in the box below.
Cozycove Disclosure Text
“As part of our plans to use plastic better ¹, Cozycove USA, Inc. has partnered with Plastic Collective, a leading global player in creating circular economies for plastic and in certifying plastic waste reduction projects under the Verra Plastic Waste Reduction Standard, the ZPO Social Plus Standard, and the ZPO Ocean Bound Plastic Standard. Through this partnership we identified the following certified plastic waste management Project from which to purchase plastic credits:
Through this credit purchase, Cozycove is investing in the plastic waste recycling activity being undertaken by the above Project in one of the world’s plastic pollution hotspots.
Cozycove has purchased 25 WRCs for the period 28 August 2025 to 31 December 2025 with the following Verra Registry serial numbers:
18446-38851-38875-PWRP-WRC-4196-VER-ID-4805-01012023-30092023-OTH…
The credits that Cozycove has purchased represent 25 tonnes recycled that:
- would not have happened in a business as usual scenario;
- represents plastic going to an acceptable end of life; and
- are attributed solely to Cozycove on the Verra registry.
In addition, the above Project is certified under the ZPO Ocean Bound Plastic Standard. Cozycove is therefore supporting a project that is recycling mismanaged plastic from waterways and / or oceans within a 50 km radius of the Project’s operations.
Furthermore, the above Project is certified under the ZPO Social Plus Standard. CozyCove USA is therefore supporting a project that is working to improve the livelihoods of its waste pickers through:
- the payment of a minimum 10% premium above market price for collected material;
- the provision routine healthcare, empowerment opportunities, PPE, and a safe working environment; and
- The elimination of child labor.
Background to Cozycove’s Environmental Claims
As part of implementing the Six R’s Impact Plan (Report, Recover, Recycle, Reduction, Recyclability, and Recycled Content ²), Cozycove purchases plastic credits. A plastic credit is a transferable unit representing a specific quantity of plastic pollution removed from the environment and/or put into the circular economy (i.e. collected and/or recycled), in excess of what would have happened under a business as usual scenario.
The plastic credits purchased by Cozycove are generated by waste management projects operating in the world’s plastic pollution hotspots and fully certified under the Verra Plastic Waste Reduction Standard. This is the leading global standard for third-party certification of plastic waste collection and recycling projects that aim to generate plastic credits. It was developed by the international non-profit Verra in collaboration with the abovementioned Guidelines for Corporate Plastic Stewardship and a multi-stakeholder committee of leading experts and practitioners. Plastic credits generated under this Standard represent environmental benefits that are:
- Real – all collected and/or recycled plastic waste and the projects that collect and/or recycle the plastic waste must be proven to have genuinely existed.
- Measurable – all collected and/or recycled plastic waste must be quantifiable using recognised measurement tools (including adjustments for uncertainty) against a credible plastic waste collection and/or recycling baseline.
- Independently audited – all collected and/or recycled plastic waste must be verified to the required level of assurance by an accredited validation/verification body with the expertise necessary in the country in which the project is taking place.
- Unique – each plastic credit must be unique and must only be associated with a single collection or recycling activity. Where a unit of collected plastic waste is also recycled, two credits can be issued for the same unit of plastic waste as long as it is clear what each credit represents. There must be no double counting or double claiming of the environmental benefit with respect to the collected and/or recycled plastic waste.
- Transparent – there must be sufficient and appropriate public disclosure of information related to plastic waste collection and/or recycling to allow intended users to make decisions with reasonable confidence.
- Conservative – conservative assumptions, values and procedures must be used to ensure that the collected and/or recycled plastic waste is not overestimated.
Two types of plastic credits are achievable under the Plastic Standard:
- A Waste Collection Credit (WCC) represents one tonne of additional plastic collected from the environment; and
- A Waste Recycling Credit (WRC) represents one tonne of additional plastic recycled.
Each plastic credit issued under the Plastic Waste Reduction Program has a unique serial number in the Verra Registry, identifying key attributes such as the material type and location where the project activities that generated the credit took place.
In cases where Environmental claims are made on the basis of a company’s plastic use, there must be periodic checks to ensure that sufficient plastic credits have been purchased to cover its plastic use. To this end, Plastic Collective conducts an annual reconciliation process and arranges top-credit purchases as needed.
In addition, by partnering with Plastic Collective, Cozycove is supporting waste management projects that are fully certified under the ZPO Ocean Bound Plastic Standard. This means that these projects are collecting and / or recycling mismanaged plastic recovered from waterways and / or oceans within a 50 km radius of the project’s operations. This is the leading global standard for third-party certification of waste management Project activity that is conducted near waterways and oceans. It was developed in 2021 by Zero Plastic Oceans, a non-governmental organization dedicated to addressing plastic pollution issues. The Standard provides a compliance framework to certify that ocean-bound plastic is being responsibly collected and processed — focusing on traceability, social and legal integrity, and proper labeling and documentation across all operational stages. A key requirement of this Standard is that the Project implement one of four specified supply chain models to achieve robust traceability.
Background to Cozycove’s Social Claims
By partnering with Plastic Collective, Cozycove is supporting waste management projects operating in the world’s plastic pollution hotspots and fully certified under the ZPO Social Plus Standard. Published in 2023, this is the leading global standard for third-party certification of a waste management project’s efforts to improve the livelihoods of waste pickers. Its goal is to promote a socially inclusive circular economy by extending enhanced social and ethical benefits to waste pickers and to all employees of the certified Project.
The key requirements of the Social Plus Standard include:
- Appointment of Community Managers to act as the primary liaison with waste pickers;
- Payment of a premium of at least 10% above market price for collected plastic waste;
- Zero tolerance of child labor, with remediation actions taken where needed (e.g., support programs, childcare, financial incentives);
- Assessment of workplace risks and training of waste pickers to use protective equipment;
- Provision of first-aid kits, basic medicines, and optional annual health services or insurance;
- Facilitation of access to social security and microloans where applicable; and
- Provision of regular workshops on topics like waste value, safety, rights, health, cooperatives, microfinance, etc.
Appendix A – The Six R’s of Better Plastic Use
The claims disclosures detailed in this document are part of Cozycove’s Six R’s Impact Plan that focuses on:
- Reporting – estimating plastic annual usage (plastic footprint), identifying targets to mitigate plastic in the future, and reporting on performance (short term action);
- Recovery – collecting the plastic waste put into the market, either directly or via partnerships with high integrity projects that recover plastic from the environment in the world’s plastic pollution hotspots (short term action);
- Recycling – recycling the plastic waste put into the market, either directly or via partnerships with high integrity projects that recycle plastic in the world’s plastic pollution hotspots (short term action);
- Reduction – reducing the amount of virgin plastic used including through redesign, lightweighting and use of alternative, more sustainable materials;
- Recyclability – using plastic packaging that may be recycled and improving recyclability of plastic packaging; and
- Recycled Content – increasing the amount of recycled plastic used in products delivered to market.
[1] See Appendix A
[2] See Appendix A for a summary of the Six R’s of Better Plastic Use.
