Design space: Sustainable packaging

Ecologic Brands was set up to design and manufacture sustainable packaging. The company focused on the laundry market first because most liquid detergents come in bottles that are made of layers of different plastics that must be separated when recycled.

Ecologic stuck with the existing shape of such bottles, as consumers are familiar with it. But the new bottles comprise an outer shell of paper and cardboard pulp that protects a thin inner plastic pouch containing the detergent.

Thanks to a mould configured by the designers, the pulp casing comes in two halves that are sealed together with a rubber adhesive. It can withstand transportation but is easy for people to pop open once the pouch is empty in order to separate the packaging for recycling. The materials in the shell can be composted, or be recycled up to seven times.

The inner pouch uses 70 per cent less plastic than a conventional detergent bottle; it too can be recycled easily because it is made from one type of plastic.

US cleaning brand Seventh Generation has adopted Ecologic’s bottle for its laundry detergent. The shells are delivered as halves, to be assembled and filled by Seventh Generation. By transporting the halves nestled together, 10 times more bottles can fit on a truck than the usual whole – but empty – plastic versions.