Procter & Gamble's Tide laundry detergent brand first introduced in January 2019 its "Eco-Box," which has been compared to a wine box because of its design made from paperboard with a tap for dispensing, in an effort to reduce the plastic in its packaging. In mid-May, the Eco-Boxes are becoming available for other fabric care product lines, including Tide purclean, Downy, Gain and Dreft.   The initiatives are related to P&G's current sustainability goals introduced in 2018, Ambition 2030, which include a commitment to make its packaging 100 percent recyclable or reusable by 2030.   Each business unit within P&G has its own approach, and the Eco-Box was one way P&G’s Fabric Care division set out to meet its packaging goal.   To be clear, the Eco-Box package still includes plastic — with the bag that holds the liquid detergent itself — but uses 60 percent less of it than the traditional packaging for P&G’s detergent brands. "We've moved to a huge reduction in plastic, but [the plastic bag] not curbside-recyclable," said Todd Cline, section head for P&G Fabric Care’s research and development team.   "I think perfection is [figuring] out the technologies to make this so that that bag and tap are also just easy curbside recycling," he continued. "But there's just not technologies for that yet today, to create bags to hold liquids that are puncture-resistant and will survive all of the shipping."   In the meantime, P&G has a stopgap solution for collection and end-of-life processing in place. When the Tide Eco-Box launched, P&G partnered with TerraCycle to offer a recycling option for the inner bag. That program will continue, now including the full Eco-Box portfolio.   Cline said P&G uses life cycle assessment (LCA) to guide its work, "particularly as it comes to sustainability," noting that from an LCA standpoint, P&G is making a huge reduction in its carbon footprint and amount of plastic that's going to landfills through the Eco-Box packaging effort.   "For us, that's a technical trade-off at the start. But it's one of those that if we waited for perfection ... we would be sitting on this technology that could have a really great benefit from a sustainability standpoint, but holding it until it's perfect," Cline said, referring to the need to engage TerraCycle on collection.   When the new Eco-Box detergents hit the market — the products will be available online only from major U.S. retailers — Cline said they will continue to test and iterate on the packaging to improve it.   All paper, no plastic   In a different part of the company, P&G Beauty, the packaging strategy is likewise taking another turn away from plastic: toward all-paper packaging. Indeed, these are just two recent examples of how P&G is working to meet its 2030 goal.   "This is just one of many innovations that P&G is working on to address the problem of plastic waste. This is an important step forward, and there is much more to come," wrote Anitra Marsh, associate director of global sustainability and brand communications with P&G Beauty, by email. Two of those beauty and personal care brands are Old Spice and Secret, which will launch all-paper packaging for their aluminum-free deodorants this month at 500 Walmart stores in the U.S.   "As the largest retailer in the world partnering with the largest deodorant and antiperspirant brands in the U.S., we know this new paperboard package has the potential to have significant positive impact and lay the groundwork for even broader impact," said Jason Kloster, senior buying manager for body care and grooming at Walmart, in a press release.   Marsh said P&G co-designed the all-paper deodorant packaging for its Secret and Old Spice products with consumers interested in cutting back on plastic waste. The package format contains 90 percent post-consumer recycled content and 10 percent new paper fibers. P&G developed package prototypes then shared the designs with consumers to see which options were "most appealing and easy to use."   P&G isn’t the only company trying to eliminate plastic packaging for deodorant. Across the pond in London, a company called Wild raised $621,775 in seed funding for its refillable no-plastic deodorant packaging — made from durable aluminum and bamboo pulp — after a successful pilot launch in 2019.   Marsh said it took less than a year to bring P&G's all-paper, plastic-free deodorant packaging to market. During the development process, the first package design did not pass a key recyclability test because the glue used for the label diminished the quality of the recycled paper pulp.   "We quickly went back to the drawing board to find another label glue that doesn’t impede recycling, and this is what we are using now in our Old Spice and Secret paper tube packages that are launching in May," she said.   The deodorant hit the shelves May 1, and P&G will continue to evaluate the recyclability and repulpability of the packaging this summer, according to Marsh.   "We are aiming for 100 percent recyclability," she said.

Procter & Gamble's Tide laundry detergent brand first introduced in January 2019 its "Eco-Box," which has been compared to a wine box because of its design made from paperboard with a tap for dispensing, in an effort to reduce the plastic in its packaging. In mid-May, the Eco-Boxes are becoming available for other fabric care product lines, including Tide purclean, Downy, Gain and Dreft.   The initiatives are related to P&G's current sustainability goals introduced in 2018, Ambition 2030, which include a commitment to make its packaging 100 percent recyclable or reusable by 2030.   Each business unit within P&G has its own approach, and the Eco-Box was one way P&G’s Fabric Care division set out to meet its packaging goal.   To be clear, the Eco-Box package still includes plastic — with the bag that holds the liquid detergent itself — but uses 60 percent less of it than the traditional packaging for P&G’s detergent brands.     "We've moved to a huge reduction in plastic, but [the plastic bag] not curbside-recyclable," said Todd Cline, section head for P&G Fabric Care’s research and development team.   "I think perfection is [figuring] out the technologies to make this so that that bag and tap are also just easy curbside recycling," he continued. "But there's just not technologies for that yet today, to create bags to hold liquids that are puncture-resistant and will survive all of the shipping."   In the meantime, P&G has a stopgap solution for collection and end-of-life processing in place. When the Tide Eco-Box launched, P&G partnered with TerraCycle to offer a recycling option for the inner bag. That program will continue, now including the full Eco-Box portfolio.   Cline said P&G uses life cycle assessment (LCA) to guide its work, "particularly as it comes to sustainability," noting that from an LCA standpoint, P&G is making a huge reduction in its carbon footprint and amount of plastic that's going to landfills through the Eco-Box packaging effort.   "For us, that's a technical trade-off at the start. But it's one of those that if we waited for perfection ... we would be sitting on this technology that could have a really great benefit from a sustainability standpoint, but holding it until it's perfect," Cline said, referring to the need to engage TerraCycle on collection.   When the new Eco-Box detergents hit the market — the products will be available online only from major U.S. retailers — Cline said they will continue to test and iterate on the packaging to improve it.   All paper, no plastic   In a different part of the company, P&G Beauty, the packaging strategy is likewise taking another turn away from plastic: toward all-paper packaging. Indeed, these are just two recent examples of how P&G is working to meet its 2030 goal.   "This is just one of many innovations that P&G is working on to address the problem of plastic waste. This is an important step forward, and there is much more to come," wrote Anitra Marsh, associate director of global sustainability and brand communications with P&G Beauty, by email.       Two of those beauty and personal care brands are Old Spice and Secret, which will launch all-paper packaging for their aluminum-free deodorants this month at 500 Walmart stores in the U.S.   "As the largest retailer in the world partnering with the largest deodorant and antiperspirant brands in the U.S., we know this new paperboard package has the potential to have significant positive impact and lay the groundwork for even broader impact," said Jason Kloster, senior buying manager for body care and grooming at Walmart, in a press release.   Marsh said P&G co-designed the all-paper deodorant packaging for its Secret and Old Spice products with consumers interested in cutting back on plastic waste. The package format contains 90 percent post-consumer recycled content and 10 percent new paper fibers. P&G developed package prototypes then shared the designs with consumers to see which options were "most appealing and easy to use."   P&G isn’t the only company trying to eliminate plastic packaging for deodorant. Across the pond in London, a company called Wild raised $621,775 in seed funding for its refillable no-plastic deodorant packaging — made from durable aluminum and bamboo pulp — after a successful pilot launch in 2019.   Marsh said it took less than a year to bring P&G's all-paper, plastic-free deodorant packaging to market. During the development process, the first package design did not pass a key recyclability test because the glue used for the label diminished the quality of the recycled paper pulp.   "We quickly went back to the drawing board to find another label glue that doesn’t impede recycling, and this is what we are using now in our Old Spice and Secret paper tube packages that are launching in May," she said.   The deodorant hit the shelves May 1, and P&G will continue to evaluate the recyclability and repulpability of the packaging this summer, according to Marsh.   "We are aiming for 100 percent recyclability," she said.

Online shopping will only continue to gain momentum in the years to come, enticing consumers by offering them access to better prices, more selection and shorter shipping times. However, as the online shopping landscape becomes increasingly more congested, companies are pushed to innovate how they approach their e-commerce business, specifically focusing on how to adapt to meet the needs of shoppers around the world.   A survey by Futerra of more than 1,000 consumers in the U.S. and UK revealed that 96 percent of people feel their own actions, such as donating, recycling, or buying ethically, can make a difference. It should come as no surprise that 88 percent of these consumers are searching for, and want brands, to help them make a difference. This confirms what we already knew – brands have a key role to play in changing consumer behavior.   One major environmental concern as a result of a booming eCommerce landscape? Most obviously, an increase in the global carbon footprint due to a rise in the number of shipments made daily. Among other consequences, the use of plastic and nonrecyclable materials. In attempts to combat this, the P&G Fabric Care eCommerce Innovation Group has reimagined its more than 50-year-old detergent by designing Tide Eco-Box – a package focusing on the unique challenges and opportunities that the eCommerce environment presents, specifically focusing on the four key consumer interactions: unboxing, preparation, use and disposal.   To soften the environmental impact of shipping liquid in eCommerce, the Tide Eco-Box contains an ultra-concentrated formula that provides a lighter shipping footprint by arriving as a shipping-safe cardboard box, eliminating the need for secondary boxing or bubble wrap. It also streamlines plastic use – if everyone that bought 96 loads in a plastic bottle switched to the Tide Eco-Box, we could save 1,4000 tons of plastic annually (enough to cover 5,000 football fields).   Tide Eco-Box is also designed to efficiently go from P&G, to the user’s home, to the recycler to be formed and filled again, all without the extra packaging and bubble wrap of a typical bottle. The design ultimately requires 25 percent fewer delivery trucks for e-retailers to deliver the same number of loads.   Additional Tide Eco-Box features include:   §  Tide’s Eco-box revolutionary packaging is created with 60 percent less plastic and 30 percent less water; §  The concentrated Tide detergent formula is made with 100 percent wind power electricity and designed to clean in energy-saving cold water cycles; §  Tide Eco-box is 100 percent recyclable through a partnership with Terra-Cycle; §  The Eco-Box contains an ultra-compacted formula, which cleans the same number of loads with 30 percent less water weight; §  Because Tide Eco-Box contains less water, the Eco-Box weighs less than today’s bottle with an equivalent number of loads (*vs Tide Original liquid laundry detergent in a 150oz. bottle); §  Shipping-safe packaging helps prevent laundry detergent liquid leaks on the way to consumer homes and provides a lighter shipping footprint by eliminating layers of packaging; and §  No-Drip twist tap and stand to raise the box and allow for clean, easy detergent dispensing and a ramp inside the box to help you use every drop of detergent.   As we know, brands have an opportunity to mold and shape consumer behavior. Tide Eco-Box is an example of a breakthrough in eCommerce design that should be used to inspire and encourage other companies.

Order HERE —-> Tide Laundry Detergent Liquid Eco-Box, Concentrated, Original Scent, 105 oz, HE Compatible, 96 Loads

• More concentrated laundry detergent for 30% more cleaning power per drop *vs 150 oz bottle
• Shipping-safe packaging to prevent laundry detergent liquid leaks on the way to your home
• No-drip tap and stand to raise the box and allow for clean, easy detergent dispensing
• Ramp inside the box to help you use every last drop of detergent
• Tide Eco-box is created with 60% less plastic and 30% less water
• Tide Eco-box is 100% recyclable through a partnership with TerraCycle

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#4 Tide and Terracycle launch Tide Eco-box recycling program

In New Jersey, Tide announced its strategic partnership with international recycling leader TerraCycle which will allow the new Tide Eco-Box packaging to be 100% recyclable from the inner plastic bag to the outer cardboard box. The new Tide Eco-Box is produced with 30% less water, and its package has 60% less plastic than the equivalent bottled size. The innovative boxed design doesn’t require wasteful secondary packaging and takes up less space than the equivalent bottle, which means fewer trucks needed to transport it to stores. “TerraCycle is the logical next step for us, because we want to ensure that not only is the product designed for more eco-friendly shipping and usage, but that every element of it is 100% recyclable, and recyclable through a very seamless process,” said P&G Brand Manager Isaac Hellemn. Through the Tide Eco-Box Recycling Program, consumers can recycle all of the packaging from the Eco-Box for free. Participants are invited to sign up on the program page at https://www.terracycle.com/en-US/brigades/tideeco-box. Additionally, for every pound of waste shipped to TerraCycle, collectors can earn $1 to donate to a non-profit, school or charitable organization of their choice. More on the story, here.

In New Jersey, Tide announced its strategic partnership with international recycling leader TerraCycle which will allow the new Tide Eco-Box packaging to be 100% recyclable from the inner plastic bag to the outer cardboard box. The new Tide Eco-Box is produced with 30% less water, and its package has 60% less plastic than the equivalent bottled size. The innovative boxed design doesn’t require wasteful secondary packaging and takes up less space than the equivalent bottle, which means fewer trucks needed to transport it to stores. “TerraCycle is the logical next step for us, because we want to ensure that not only is the product designed for more eco-friendly shipping and usage, but that every element of it is 100% recyclable, and recyclable through a very seamless process,” said P&G Brand Manager Isaac Hellemn. Through the Tide Eco-Box Recycling Program, consumers can recycle all of the packaging from the Eco-Box for free. Participants are invited to sign up on the program page at https://www.terracycle.com/en-US/brigades/tideeco-box. Additionally, for every pound of waste shipped to TerraCycle, collectors can earn $1 to donate to a non-profit, school or charitable organization of their choice.    

In New Jersey, Tide announced its strategic partnership with international recycling leader TerraCycle which will allow the new Tide Eco-Box packaging to be 100% recyclable from the inner plastic bag to the outer cardboard box. The new Tide Eco-Box is produced with 30% less water, and its package has 60% less plastic than the equivalent bottled size.   The innovative boxed design doesn’t require wasteful secondary packaging and takes up less space than the equivalent bottle, which means fewer trucks needed to transport it to stores.   “TerraCycle is the logical next step for us, because we want to ensure that not only is the product designed for more eco-friendly shipping and usage, but that every element of it is 100% recyclable, and recyclable through a very seamless process,” said P&G Brand Manager Isaac Hellemn.   Through the Tide Eco-Box Recycling Program, consumers can recycle all of the packaging from the Eco-Box for free. Participants are invited to sign up on the program page at https://www.terracycle.com/en-US/brigades/tideeco-box. Additionally, for every pound of waste shipped to TerraCycle, collectors can earn $1 to donate to a non-profit, school or charitable organization of their choice.  

Pigeon Brands' Elyse Boulet discusses how major players are applying innovative solutions to the packaging conundrum.

In recent months, many large brands have thrown their hats (made of recycled materials of course) into the sustainability ring, pledging to eliminate plastics, such as straws and bags, or to divert food from landfills. Last week, Wendy’s joined the long queue of global companies announcing their commitment to advancing sustainable packaging solutions, identifying new and existing cup solutions to optimize the hot and cold fiber cup.   Espousing sustainable practices has the potential to pay off. Seventy-one percent of Canadians are placing a higher importance on sustainable food packaging than they did five years ago, according to a 2018 survey by paper giant Asia Pulp and Paper. The study also found that 37% of respondents “would be open to paying up to 10% more” for products with sustainable packaging.   The trend has many companies and their marketers eyeing sustainable packaging as the next frontier in CSR, but their efforts have been met with significant challenges, says Elyse Boulet, SVP and national managing director of Pigeon Brands. “It’s not that brands don’t want to go there,” she says. “It’s that the barriers are very high.” For one thing, brands face regulatory hurdles. Boulet notes that the infrastructure for recycling biodegradable or recyclable materials differs by jurisdiction, often at the municipal level. There are also food safety concerns, especially with new and innovative materials. And some brands have eschewed recycled plastic, because the colours available with alternative materials are limited. It’s that line of thinking that made Tide go from plastic to carton. Launched in November 2018, the Tide “eco-box” contains a sealed bag of Tide liquid detergent and is made with 60% less plastic and 30% less water than the brand’s current press-tap container. The design has the added benefit of being light-weight and free of secondary re-boxing materials, thanks its  carton shape. It will take time for the industry to overcome packaging challenges, and brands will need to avoid “greenwashing” when doing so, Boulet says, emphasizing that sustainability “storytelling needs to be authentic and credible.” But she adds that there’s an opportunity for brands to differentiate themselves in the packaging milieu by “being original in their sustainable thinking.” For example, Pigeon helped Danone reduce Oikos yogurt’s over-wrap packaging, while maintaining efficiency, and “forcing ourselves to look at the available space on the shelf.” The design simultaneously increased shopability and shelf impact by turning the containers’ top panels into the messaging platform.  “It’s less costly to produce the packaging as a result,” says Boulet. Mexican beer giant Corona recently worked on replacing the plastic ring used to haul around a six-pack in favour of a biodegradable fiber eco-pack (which is currently being tested in Mexico, see featured image above). Of all the companies making strides, Boulet believes Canada’s TerraCycle is at the forefront of the packaging revolution. The company’s business model is predicated upon re-purposing traditionally non-recyclable waste products. P&G’s Head & Shoulders brand partnered on a program with TerraCycle to pick up plastic on beaches, and created packaging based on that waste, the world’s first recyclable shampoo bottle. Earlier this year, TerraCycle unveiled Loop, a subscription-based reusable packaging program geared towards the CPG industry. Many of the largest CPG companies, from PepsiCo to Unilever, have already signed on for when the program launches in Canada later this year or early next. And TerraCycle recently inked a deal with Tide, a strategic partnership that will allow the new Tide Eco-Box packaging to be 100% recyclable from bag to box.   Photo credits (via Pigeon Brands): Corona, courtesy of Parley for the Oceans; Tide,  courtesy of Yahoo Finance; Oikos, courtesy of Pigeon Brands. 

Working on its dedication to develop solutions for sustainable laundry, recently, Tide revealed its partnership with TerraCycle, an international recycler. As per TerraCycle, the new joint venture will help the latest Eco-Box packaging to be completely reusable from bag to box. Latest Tide Eco-Box is designed in such a way that it is eco-friendly. The new highly-concentrated formula of Tide is developed with thirty percent less water & its package has sixty percent less plastic as compared to the bottled size. The modernized boxed design doesn’t need excessive secondary packaging & needs minimum space compared to the bottle. This means that less trucks are required to deliver it to the shops. Isaac Hellemn who is P&G’s Brand Manager stated that the next logical step for them is TerraCycle because they want to assure that not only the product is developed for environment friendly usage & shipping, but also that every single component can be recycled and recycled with the help of a simplified method. With the help of Tide Eco-Box Recycling Program, customers can reuse the complete packaging from Eco-Box for no cost. Once they are done with Eco-Box, consumers can remove waste of plastic from cardboard box & mail it with the help of shipping label, which is already paid for. After collection, plastic is cleaned & melted into hard plastic, which can be reused to create novel recycled products. Moreover, every pound of waste sent to TerraCycle, collectors can get a dollar which can be donated to a non-profit, charitable firm or school of their preference. In order to recycle cardboard box, consumers can put in their address into the interactive map at terracycle.com & look for recycling choices, which includes drop-off areas of TerraCycle & municipal recycling programs. Tom Szaky who is Chief Executive Officer of TerraCycle stated that every year over seventy-nine percent of waste which is present in landfills can be recycled. TerraCycle with firms such as Tide, puts in a lot of efforts every day to decrease the number & combine single-use packaging into novel products. The proposed recycling program is open to anyone, be it school, community firm, office or individual. It is predicted that the pilot program will be introduced in Paris metro area this spring and also in New York, which includes areas of Pennsylvania & New Jersey.

Building on its commitment to developing sustainable laundry solutions, Tide announced its strategic partnership with international recycling leader TerraCycle. This will allow the new Tide Eco-Box packaging to be 100 percent recyclable from bag to box. The new Tide Eco-Box is designed to be environmentally friendly. Its new ultra-concentrated Tide formula is produced with 30 percent less water, and its package has 60 percent less plastic than the equivalent bottled size. The boxed design doesn’t require wasteful secondary packaging and takes up less space than the equivalent bottle, which means fewer trucks needed to transport it to stores. “TerraCycle is the logical next step for us, because we want to ensure that not only is the product designed for more eco-friendly shipping and usage, but that every element of it is 100 percent recyclable, and recyclable through a very seamless process,” said Procter & Gamble Brand Manager Isaac Hellemn in a statement. Through the Tide Eco-Box Recycling Program, consumers can recycle all of the packaging from the Eco-Box for free. Once finished with the Eco-Box, consumers can separate any plastic waste from the cardboard box and mail it in using a prepaid shipping label. Once collected, the plastic is cleaned and melted into hard plastic that can be remolded to make new recycled products. Additionally, for every pound of waste shipped to TerraCycle, collectors can earn $1 to donate to a nonprofit, school or charitable organization of their choice. “Each year, more than 79 percent of waste that ends up in landfills has the potential to be recycled,” said TerraCycle CEO Tom Szaky in a statement. “TerraCycle, in association with companies like Tide, works every day to reduce that number and integrate single-use packaging into new products.” The Tide Eco-Box Recycling Program is open to any interested individual, school, office or community organization.