Unilever Trims Plastic Usage Using Newly Developed Packaging Technology
By Karla Paris
Collaboration with global packaging suppliers brings breakthrough in bottle technology
Unilever’s Sustainable Living Plan just received a significant bump with the news that the company will debut newly developed packaging that will contain a minimum of 15 percent less plastic.
The new plastic packaging is set to be deployed first in Europe across the Dove Body Wash product line, before rolling the technology out to its other products. With up to 33 million Dove Body Wash bottles sold across Europe in 2013, the new technology could save the business up to 275 ton of plastic a year. A full roll-out across every Unilever product and packaging format could save the business up to 27,000 tons of plastic and contribute significantly to the target set out in the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan to halve waste footprint by 2020.
The MuCell Technology for Extrusion Blow Moulding (EBM) was created in collaboration with two of Unilever’s global packaging suppliers, ALPLA and MuCell Extrusion. It represents a breakthrough in bottle technology. By using gas-injection to create bubbles in the middle layer of the bottle wall, it reduces the density of the bottle and the amount of plastic required. The technology is cleaner, less expensive to produce, and does not require the added investment and risk associated with handling, storing, and utilizing environmentally unsound, flammable Hydrocarbons.
This is not the first time Unilever has worked with its packaging suppliers to improve its packaging and labeling designs. Unilever worked with Trexel on a 3D in-mold labeling process (3D IML) for packaging, which gives the look of an embossed label without any need for additional tooling costs. An application using this process, a Paccor/Unilever polypropylene margarine tub with a 3D IML, won the DuPont Packaging Silver Award in 2013 and an Emerging Technology Award in the Society of the Plastics Industry Inc.’s International Design Competition at NPE 2012.
Unilever has set clear goals to cut the environmental footprint of its products in half. The company is also striving to help more than 1 billion people take action to improve their health and well-being across its value chain, while sourcing 100 percent of its agricultural raw materials.