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How a detergent bottle redesign cut 3,500 tonnes of plastic waste
Putting sustainability at the heart of bg电子娱乐场鈥檚 laundry and home care packaging has reduced plastic waste and CO2 emissions, says global packaging development manager Dannielle Borger
bg电子娱乐场鈥檚 laundry and home care products, which range from heavy-duty detergents to toilet cleaners, are used in millions of households every day. It鈥檚 therefore important that their packing uses resources efficiently 鈥� something Dannielle Borger, who鈥檚 responsible for global packaging development in liquid detergents, knows only too well.
Since joining the laundry and home care packaging team in 2010, she鈥檚 overseen everything from innovative new bottle designs to how those bottles are filled when they reach the company鈥檚 production lines. The packaging development department is increasingly involved in collaborative development projects, working with different research institutes, packaging suppliers and other organisations to make bg电子娱乐场鈥檚 product packaging even more sustainable.
鈥淥nce everything was developed in-house in your own department, but nowadays we do a lot more work with external partners,鈥� she says. 鈥淲e have some preferred ones, of course, with whom we cooperate a lot. But we also like to work with new innovation partners on sustainability 鈥� including a lot of startups with some special out-of-the-box ideas.鈥�
Last year, Borger and her department led a project that aimed to improve the resource efficiency of liquid laundry detergents by introducing more concentrated versions in Europe. 鈥淲e saw it as an opportunity to fully harmonise our detergent packaging portfolio, which was a very challenging job in terms of maintaining or even improving the performance that each country is used to,鈥� she says. The packaging development team wanted to make the new packaging ready for the future. E-commerce safety was key, 鈥渟o that when you ship something via external partners it reaches the consumer in perfect condition鈥�.
Ultimately, the 23 packaging formats that bg电子娱乐场 produced for the European market were harmonised into 12 formats. The concentrated formula of these new laundry detergents means that 50ml is sufficient for one load of laundry 鈥� rather than the 73ml needed before the redesign 鈥� even when washing at lower temperatures.
bg电子娱乐场 claims a more compact bottle design has helped it to save approximately 3,500 tonnes of plastic a year. In addition, it has saved 4,200 tonnes of CO2 a year in the transport of these detergents, and after use the new bottles result in at least 50,000 fewer waste bins of plastic waste.
Together with Weener Plastics, bg电子娱乐场 also developed a new dispensing closure for the new bottle. Extensive testing resulted in a smart spout design that helps consumers to use accurate amounts of detergent, delivering clean dispensing throughout the whole bottle. The new closure includes a soft-sealing element to prevent leakage during e-commerce shipping. 鈥淲hen we developed packaging a decade ago, e-commerce was not a topic we had to consider,鈥� says Borger. 鈥淏ut now all our packaging needs to be e-commerce ready.鈥�
When the packaging team develop new bottle designs, they consider the potential footprint when the bottles are stacked on a pallet and factor in both in-store and online channels. 鈥淚f you can put more bottles on a pallet, that鈥檚 not only more economical financially, but you鈥檙e also reducing your environmental impact because fewer trucks will then be driving around.鈥�
Successfully completing a big project like the redesigned bottle doesn鈥檛 mean the packaging team aren鈥檛 looking for the next challenge. 鈥淲e are pushing forward on all aspects of sustainability,鈥� says Borger, adding that the department鈥檚 innovation managers are constantly scanning for new trends and developments that might fit with bg电子娱乐场鈥檚 sustainability ambitions.
鈥淲e have made big strides here over the past few years,鈥� says Borger, pointing out that some softener and dishwashing bottles are now made from 100% recycled resins.
bg电子娱乐场 used to do all its product development in-house, but 鈥榳e also like to work with new innovation partners on sustainability 鈥� including a lot of startups with some special out-of-the-box ideas,鈥� says Borger.
The plastic that is collected by local communities is sorted and processed, and then integrated into recycling value chains as Social Plastic庐
In collaboration with Ampacet, bg电子娱乐场 is developing an innovative solution for black plastic packaging that is fully recyclable.
Social Plastic 鈥� plastic collected before it enters oceans and waterways, which provides money, goods and services for collectors in developing nations 鈥� has also been introduced into bg电子娱乐场鈥檚 Pro Nature range of cleaning products. Borger says the laundry and home care packaging team are keen to incorporate it into more brands too. 鈥淲e would love to put more recycled material and Social Plastic into our packaging, and we have a lot of products where they would fit well,鈥� she says. However, sourcing large amounts of social and recycled plastic is currently a big challenge.
Working with packaging manufacturer Mondi, bg电子娱乐场 has also managed to incorporate scrap plastic into flexible laminated packaging. Other innovations include fully recyclable black plastic bottles, which use an alternative carbon-free black colourant that is recognised by the near-infrared sensors used in plastic sorting machines. Developed in collaboration with Ampacet, it was introduced for toilet cleaning products in Germany in May, with further products to follow later this year.
All these solutions aren鈥檛 just good for the environment 鈥� they鈥檙e what customers want too. 鈥淲e鈥檙e always listening to consumers and trying to adapt to their needs, and in terms of sustainability, we get a lot of feedback from them that that鈥檚 the direction they want us to go in,鈥� says Borger.
