Sustainable Global Packaging for Toilet Cleansers

With a new, global packaging concept for toilet cleaner bottles chemicals and consumer goods company Henkel (U.S. headquarters in Stamford, Conn.) is underlining its commitment to sustainable packaging and the promotion of a circular economy. The amount of recycled polyethylene (PE) in the packaging of toilet cleaner gels has been significantly increased – reaching 50% for toilet cleaners in the standard range, for example from the Biff brand, and, as much as 75% in the case of cleaners from the Pro Nature range.

The material is recycled PE from end-user households. “It is an important step for us that we have been able to increase the proportion of recycled PE in our toilet cleaners so significantly. After all, the availability of high-quality recycled materials of this plastic is still limited. The success is at the same time a motivation. Our goal is to even further increase the proportion of recycled material in our packaging,” said Ulf Timmann, head of global packaging innovations toilet care & hard surface cleaning.

Not only does the new packaging concept include more recycled plastic, but also less plastic overall, reducing the weight of the bottle by 11%. This packaging innovation saves 480,000 kilograms (1.05 million lbs)of new plastic per year which corresponds to an annual CO₂ saving of 800 tons (1.6 billion lbs). The compact bottle design allows around 10% more bottles to fit on a transport pallet. In addition to the increased use of recycled materials, this has a positive effect on the ecological footprint, as it saves CO₂ during transport.

With the new packaging concept, Henkel has introduced a standardized bottle body design for toilet cleaners worldwide. All bottles are now available in a uniform format and have polyethylene as a material. The products have been available in stores since January 2021.

The company is working towards the ambitious target to reduce the amount of virgin plastic from fossil sources in its consumer product packaging by 50% by 2025. To reach this goal, Henkel aims to increase the proportion of recycled plastics to more than 30% by 2025, reduce the absolute plastic volume and increase the use of biobased plastics. In addition, 100%  of Henkel’s packaging will be recyclable or reusable..