Unilever-owned laundry brand Persil has switched to 100% recyclable bottles as part of the company’s new ‘Clean Future’ initiative.
The bottles are made with 50% post-consumer recycled plastic, and the dosing ball previously provided with every bottle has been removed, reducing the amount of virgin plastic by 1,000 tonnes annually, Unilever said.
Persil has also been reformulated with plant-based stain removers and biodegradable ingredients from renewable or recycled sources. It has been concentrated by 23%, meaning the bottles are smaller – allowing for 19% less trucks on the road.
Unilever announced yesterday it would replace 100% of the carbon derived from fossil fuels in its cleaning and laundry product formulations across brands such as Persil, Cif and Comfort with renewable or recycled carbon.
It has ringfenced €1bn for the Clean Future programme, to finance biotechnology research, CO2 utilisation, low-carbon chemistry, biodegradable and water-efficient product formulations, and will halve the use of virgin plastic used in Unilever cleaning products globally by 2025.
“Clean Future is our vision to transform the sustainability of our global cleaning and laundry brands, which has already begun with Persil,” said Charlie Beevor, VP of homecare for Unilever in the UK&I.
“In the UK&I we’ve seen unprecedented demand for our homecare products in recent months, and we need to maintain momentum on how we continue to adapt and evolve our portfolio of products to ensure we are continuing to lead the way in terms of sustainability. As an industry, we must break our dependence on fossil fuels and we’re proud to be leading the charge.
“We know that people want good-value products that deliver performance and are also sustainable. Rapid developments in science and technology are allowing us to do this, with the promise of exciting new benefits – from ultra-mild cleaning ingredients to self-cleaning clothes and surfaces. Our suppliers and innovation partners play a critical role through this transition, by sharing our Carbon Rainbow model, we are calling on an economy-wide transformation in how we all use carbon.
“Already our first Clean Future innovation has hit UK shelves with the launch of our new Persil bottles, as we look to reduce the impact of well-loved brands with the ingredients and packaging we use. We believe there should be no compromise between quality and our planet when buying products. Our new Persil Liquid is just the start of providing products that are both effective and kind to the planet.”
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