Unilever partners EPL,Amcor, others to drive packaging innovation on toothpaste tubes
In a bid to ensure a safe and qualitative packaging innovation recently introduced on its oral care products globally, Unilever has partnered with multiple global packaging manufacturers including EPL (formerly Essel Propack), Amcor, Huhtamaki and Dai Nippon Indonesia (DNPI).
Alan Conner, Vice President – Europe, EPL (formerly Essel Propack) said: “When it comes to making oral care sustainable, it has been challenging to develop a product that is recyclable without adding extra plastic to the tube.
He added:”EPL is a global market leading supplier of toothpaste tubes and is delighted to support this breakthrough innovation representing a major turning point for the oral care industry and is a key first step in reducing plastic waste, enabling consumers to minimize their impact on the planet. Given the size and scale of Unilever, their commitment to convert 100% of its global toothpaste portfolio by 2025 will unquestionably lead others to take action as well.”
Also commenting, Babu Cherian, R&D Oral Care Packaging Director at Unilever said: “Recyclable tubes mark a key milestone in our packaging journey and, more significantly, they have the potential to transform the whole oral care industry. Together with our manufacturing partners, we’re making the new design available to any producers interested in adopting the new material, with the ambition to accelerate industry change.”
To drive further change across the waste management industry, Unilever is working with global recycling organizations to help ensure that the new tubes are collected and recycled. This will be the case in France, where consumers can put the new tubes in their home recycling bin ready to be collected and turned into new products.
This is only the start of Unilever’s oral care journey. Brands including Signal also plan to introduce more PCR (post-consumer recycled) plastic into their recyclable tubes by 2022 in France and other European markets. This will significantly reduce the use of virgin plastic and support the move towards a circular economy.
More broadly, the innovation contributes to Unilever’s commitment to ensure that 100% of its plastic packaging is designed to be reusable, recyclable or compostable, and its ambition to help collect and process more plastic packaging that it sells.
It would be recalled that Unilever recently announced plans to switch to recyclable packaging by 2025 in response to environmental concerns and rising waste management.
This repackaging decision will see the Unilever’s oral care brands which include Signal, Pepsodent and Close-up being packaged in recyclable plastic that can be easily collected and recycled into new products.
Unilever will flag off the initiative in its two biggest markets, France and India, where the company has partnered with waste management authorities to facilitate the collection and recyclability of the new products.
About Unilever
Unilever is a British multinational consumer goods company headquartered in London, England. Unilever products include food, confections (candy), energy drinks, baby food, soft drinks, cheese, ice cream, tea, cleaning agents, instant coffee, pet food, bottled water, toothpaste, chewing gum, frozen pizza, pregnancy tests, juice, margarine and spreads (Upfield), beauty products, personal care, breakfast cereals, pharmaceutical and consumer healthcare products. Unilever is the largest producer of soap in the world. Unilever’s products are available in around 190 countries.Unilever owns over 400 brands, with a turnover in 2017 of 53.7 billion euros and thirteen brands with sales of over one billion euros
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