Coming up with new delivery models and redesigning the packaging of consumer goods is an essential step in achieving a future where plastic waste is obsolete. This is particularly relevant when it comes to giant fast-moving consumer goods manufacturers who are the main contributors to our global plastic pollution crisis.
Well aware of their role in this growing environmental problem, multinational Procter & Gamble has been busy rethinking its business-as-usual practices by redesigning some of its products to be zero-waste. As a result, the company has recently announced new refillable antiperspirants and paperboard deodorants that cut waste down to zero.
The redesigned packagings pertain to the brand’s classic Secret and Old Spice deodorant and antiperspirant lines and come either in sustainably sourced paperboard made from 90 percent post-consumer recycled paper or in a refillable case. While the case is still made of (recyclable) plastic, the refills are 100 percent plastic-free.
A deodorant tube made of paperboard may sound odd, but it’s not that different from a traditional plastic tube in how it works: You push the bottom to raise the product and, unlike a conventional tube, can use all of it before recycling or composting.
“We’ve heard loud and clear that people are craving more eco-friendly personal care products, but they also must be delightful to use, otherwise people will not stick with them long-term,” Anitra Marsh, VP of Global Sustainability at P&G, told Treehugger.
“By providing sustainable options for both antiperspirants and aluminum-free deodorants at some of the most affordable prices on the market, we’re able to make sustainable choices a reality for more consumers,” added Marsh.
