Unilever has announced plans to introduce bottles made of 100% recycled plastic for Dove beauty products range by the end of 2019.
The new bottles will be launched in Europe and North America for all products under the Dove, Dove Men+Care, and Baby Dove labels.
Work is also underway on developing alternatives for caps and pumps where it is not feasible to use recycled plastic, Unilever said.
The brand has also pledged to make its single-pack, Dove beauty bars free of plastic in 2020 across the globe.
It is also developing a 'zero-plastic material' to replace the outer-wrap of multipacks of Dove bar.
'Significant Strides'
Sander Defruyt, new plastics economy lead at Ellen MacArthur Foundation, said, "We must address plastic waste at the source. This means eliminating the plastic items we don’t need, innovating the ones we do need so that all of them are reusable, recyclable, or compostable, and circulating all those we use by reusing them or recycling them into new products and packaging.
"That is why we welcome Dove's announcements. Their significant strides help reduce Dove's use of virgin plastics, and help to accelerate the global transition to a circular economy for plastics."
Dove will also test a new refillable deodorant format that substantially reduces the use of plastic.
The refillable deodorant sticks, minim, is part of the LOOP platform initiative - a first-of-its-kind, minimal waste, direct-to-consumer shopping system.
'Passionately Committed'
Marcela Melero, vice-president of Dove Global Skin Cleansing, explained, "We believe in care that goes further: for our consumers as well as our planet.
"We are passionately committed to being one of the brands making the biggest impact against plastic waste. We know we’re not perfect, but we can’t afford to wait."
The combined impact of these initiatives is expected to reduce the use of virgin plastic by more than 20,500 tonnes per year, Unilever said.
It is the equivalent to the amount of plastic required to circle the Earth 2.7 times.
Chief R&D Officer at Unilever, Richard Slater, commented, "[These] announcements are an important step in our work to transform how we produce, use and dispose of plastic packaging.
"By making this move, we aim to drive the global recycling industry to collect more waste plastic and make more recycled plastic available for use."
© 2019 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Dayeeta Das. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
