Why people are taking their plastic trash to electric scooter stores

Gogoro’s electric scooters with swappable batteries have always been focused on environmental responsibility. But now the company is teaming up with leading household consumer goods brand MUJI to take things even further. And it involves your plastic waste.

MUJI is a Japanese-based home goods designer brand whose name actually translates to “no-brand quality goods.” The company is known for its stylish, high-quality, and affordably priced products that cover everything from stationary, furniture, clothing, and even food items.

In a new three-way partnership, MUJI, Gogoro, and world-renowned Japanese designer Naoto Fukasawa have joined forces to collaborate on the newly designed Gogoro VIVA ME and Gogoro VIVA MIX ME electric scooters. They’ve also produced a complementary range of merchandise and accessories.

The Gogoro VIVA line of affordably priced electric scooters was first unveiled back in 2019, debuting polypropylene body panels produced from recycled material. Now the new VIVA ME and VIVA MIX ME models, produced in conjunction with MUJI and Fukasawa, are taking that second-life manufacturing idea even further.

As Gogoro founder and CEO Horace Luke explained:

Naoto Fukasawa offers such a fresh and unique approach to simplicity, functionality and beauty in everything he creates, so it was an honor to work with him on our new Smartscooter designs and accessories. This collaboration between Gogoro, MUJI and Naoto Fukasawa establishes a strong unified voice in promoting sustainable lifestyles in Taiwan and across the region, not just for transportation but across all aspects of life. Our joint ‘Recycling for Good’ initiative promotes the reduction of urban pollution through encouraging the public to recycle plastics at Gogoro and MUJI stores and their reuse in our new Smartscooters.

That Recycling for Good program that Luke mentioned is a new initiative that debuted as part of the partnership.

Recycling for Good encourages people in Taiwan, Gogoro’s domestic market, to participate in recycling polypropylene plastic waste at Gogoro and MUJI stores and empower them to take small actions toward building a more sustainable future.

Polypropylene objects recovered during the Recycling for Good initiative are screened, cut, granulated, reshaped, and regenerated into the body panels of the newly unveiled Gogoro Smartscooters. The polypropylene body material is also made of the same material as MUJI’s polypropylene storage series.

As MUJI Taiwan general manager Akihiro Yoshida explained:

MUJI and Gogoro are continuing the concept of a sustainable lifestyle and together have created this new series of Gogoro Smartscooters that are optimized for life and the environment. Gogoro’s commitment to being a sustainable business is aligned with MUJI’s business philosophy. MUJI is not just a store that sells goods, but it creates a simple and pleasant life through comprehensive sustainable thinking and takes practical action for sustainability of society and the earth.

The steps add to Gogoro’s impressive environmental figures, with the company’s 2.5 million users already responsible for reducing 680 million kg (approximately 750,000 tons) of CO₂ emissions.

Gogoro’s electric scooters and battery-swapping network are designed to be a simple and easy way to replace the need for riders to recharge their electric scooters.

Instead of seeking out charging infrastructures like a conventional electric motorcycle or e-scooter, riders simply roll up to a Gogoro GoStation and swap a pair of depleted batteries for new ones.

The process takes as little as six seconds, meaning riders can essentially instantly “recharge” and be on their way.

The company has expanded aggressively after dominating its domestic market of Taiwan, spreading its operations to nearly a dozen countries so far.