Reckitt Benckiser Focuses on Recyclable Plastic
First in Italy, then in Germany and the United Kingdom, and finally around the world: the dishwasher tabs Finish Quantum Ultimate are to be packaged in recyclable plastic. The new concept follows on from the sustainability targets that the company has set itself and will be rolled out gradually.
When Reckitt Benckiser (RB) decides on new packaging concepts, it carries weight: after all, the brands of the manufacturer of cleaning products and household goods can be found almost everywhere in the world. According to the company, 20 million RB products are bought by consumers every day. RB takes a “4R” (reduce, reuse, replace, recycle) approach to plastic packaging. All plastic packaging put into use should be reusable or recyclable by 2025.
“A rather long journey”
A further step along this path: the new packaging for the premium line of dishwasher tabs Finish Quantum Ultimate, which is now being rolled out step by step. It starts in Italy, is followed by Germany and the United Kingdom, and finally the concept is rolled out worldwide. The packaging, previously a multi-layer stand-up pouch made of non-recyclable PET/PE, will in future be made of fully recyclable mono-material. “It was quite a long journey with numerous tests”, states Krzysztof Krajewski, Director Packaging Sustainability Hygiene at RB. The challenge: to make the packaging recyclable without compromising on appearance, feel or performance.
BarrierPack Recyclable from Mondi
“As this is a premium product line, it was crucial that the resulting stand-up pouch was strong enough, had a smooth appearance and offered accurate colour matching and a high quality appearance at the same time,” explains Olivier Seux, Global Key Account Manager, Mondi Consumer Flexibles. “There was no compromise on the barrier properties of the packaging and a recyclable zipper had to be incorporated for easy opening and closing of the bag”. RB was then convinced by the BarrierPack Recyclable from packaging specialist Mondi. The packaging has already received several awards, in 2018, for example, it was the winner in the sustainability category of the German Packaging Award.
