Small is beautiful is the new mantra for the £961m laundry category, as suppliers strive to tackle green issues without sacrificing performance.

The major players have opted mainly for reformulating and repackaging existing lines in more compact formats - with a great deal of success in sales terms. Powders, led by Bold, are still the dominant force, but concentrated formats have been the real new stars. Persil Small and Mighty, Surf Concentrate and Lenor and Comfort Concentrate all contributed to the market's 2% rise, and Daz is set to join the compact line-up with the launch of Liquitabs.

Procter & Gamble went down a different route for Ariel, with a 'turn to 30 degrees' campaign to drive home the environmental implications of using hot water. This may have boosted awareness, but it didn't have the same impact on sales as its compact rivals. "Consumers want less packaging and less product; retailers want less space and lower transport costs," says Marie Scoble, laundry category manager at Unilever. "Transporting compact formats saves us costs too. It's a win-win situation." Scoble adds the company is working towards putting other detergent formats - particularly powder - into compact versions.

The backlash against harsh chemicals can also be seen in Reckitt Benckiser's current marketing campaign for a new mainstream Woolite liquid detergent. The product's efficacy is stressed, but its name - Safe-tergent - flags up its environmentally friendly credentials.

Environmental experts question whether or not these shifts by the global giants go far enough, however. While reducing energy use, they do little to tackle the issue of bleach and phosphates being washed into the world's oceans.

Nevertheless, the major producers insist that, while consumers cite green issues as a factor behind their choice, they rank performance higher. "Consumers really want a brand they can trust," says Scoble. "They need to know it's going to clean their clothes, otherwise it's a false economy."

Online supermarket Ocado has reported that sales of environmentally friendly household products have soared by nearly 60% in a year, but overtly eco-friendly laundry detergents are still only a niche, with even the market's pioneer, Ecover, only recording sales approaching £25m in the UK.

Nevertheless, the change in climate has prompted others to try their luck. Aquados has introduced Simply Laundry capsules, which are biodegradable, use 50% less powder than their big box equivalents, work at lower temperatures and require less water than standard detergents to become undetectable in the environment. It has also been awarded the EU eco-label licence.

The product is already listed in CRTG, Morrisons and Sainsbury's, as well as in more specialist retailers, with more listings set for this year. The company is also planning other launches in the laundry and household sectors - Simply Dishwash, for instance, has just hit the market.

"Our patented SoftTab technology delivers outstanding results at an everyday price," says sales and marketing director Andrew Glen. "We believe environmentally responsible products have to be mainstream if they're going to deliver optimal environmental benefits."

US brand Method is set to follow up the launch of its environmentally friendly cleaning products with laundry detergents. The change in tone has also prompted Footprint, an eco-friendly brand that's already big in Sweden, to try its washing powders and fabric conditioner here.

Alistair Starkie, Footprint International MD, believes there will be a greater emphasis in 2008 on an holistic approach to laundry brands - and stricter demands from retail partners. "It's time to stop compromising - it's no longer acceptable to be environmentally friendly with one part of a product, and not with the others, and there is no reason why eco-friendly products should not be more effective than mainstream brands."

Starkie believes laundry brands will have to consider the complete product lifecycle, including carbon emissions. "It looks as though carbon emissions are going to become a much more frequent talking point in buying meetings, particularly for eco-brands."

He claims Footprint's products, which also include colour care and whites washing powders, are the most concentrated detergents and are carbon-neutral.

Other key issues for the market include dosage control, which is behind the 98.6% year-on-year rise of Persil Gel tablets, and fragrance. Liquid formats are the most effective way to harness fragrance and Persil Liquid was up more than 25%.

Unilever also claimed a first with patented Fresh Release technology for Comfort Concentrates, while P&G added liquids and liquitabs to the Bold Crushed Silk and Jasmine range, Almond Milk & Honey fabric enhancer to its Fairy laundry range and paired up Lenor with Febreze and Ariel.

"Consumers are demanding brilliant cleaning and high levels of efficiency and convenience," says Jonathan Horton, market strategy planner, laundry, Procter & Gamble. "The liquitab is perfectly placed to best meet consumer needs." n