Carbon Reduction in Home, Personal and Cleaning Products

In the last two years, we’ve witnessed monumental changes to our normal routines. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a global impact on the way we conduct our lives. We rely more on ecommerce and digital platforms, we’re spending more time at home, and we’re questioning the safety and efficacy of the products we use every day.

You might have heard the phrase “the new normal” to describe this current moment in time. The pandemic has caused people to evaluate what is important to them, and seek out products based on an entirely new set of criteria. As consumer needs shift, brands must adapt to stay relevant—and it’s unlikely that these new concerns are going to go away once the pandemic is over. “The new normal” means that shifting consumer expectations are here to stay.

If you’re like most people, you likely looked at home, personal, and cleaning products in a new light – and looked for new ways to purchase them. These purchases were traditionally driven by routine or habit – and purchased in-store – but are now driven by concerns for sanitization and protection from bacteria – and purchased via ecommerce. This is an area bag-in-box and pouch packaging has always thrived, and specifically where Scholle IPN excels. We are a global leader in total packaging solutions, and have always prioritized safety and simplicity, which go hand-in-hand with sustainability and transparency.

In this report, we’ll discuss the changing landscape of home, personal, and cleaning products. “The new normal” includes a critical look at responsible sourcing and packaging, and we’ll demonstrate how brands can adopt these principles in ways that reach consumers. We partnered with Mintel, a global leader in consumer research and trends, to lay out our predictions for how home and personal care products intersect with sustainability.

Many consumers are rethinking what sustainability means as we increasingly rely on ecommerce to provide us with the goods we need safely: this presents a huge opportunity for brands to redesign their packaging as a way to communicate their value to consumers. “With the accelerated adoption of online shopping spurred by the pandemic, now is the time for household brands to rethink packaging,” (Mintel, internal presentation).

Carbon neutrality is also a safety issue. Currently, most brands operate using a linear model: they extract raw materials, make an item, it gets consumed, and once it’s been used, it gets discarded and becomes waste. This model is what contributes to carbon emissions and is responsible for changing weather conditions that negatively impact the planet. Our wellbeing is at stake if we don’t change our model of consumption.

At Scholle IPN, we operate under a circular model.

We connect all parts of the supply chain and ask how we can limit our use of natural resources and think regeneratively about waste.

In the past, safety and sustainability have been treated as separate issues, sometimes working at odds with one another. The COVID-19 pandemic did set back obvious gains, like cutting down on refillable and reusable containers because of contamination concerns. Instead, consumer focus has turned to products that provide sanitization or antimicrobial benefits.

However, that doesn’t mean we can’t connect safety and sustainability—and now is the time to do so. “Protective themes can evolve and focus on pollution-protecting capabilities or link to immunity protection.” (Mintel, A Year of Innovation in Soap, Bath, and Shower, 2021). Consumers are much more likely to read packaging labels, and this is a moment to expand the idea of safety outward.

With so many consumers looking at labels, it’s important to make information demonstrable and easy to understand. Home and personal care products have long been marketed by how easy they can make our lives—a dish soap might claim to cut down the time it takes to wash dishes, for example. Brands can use this solutions-based format to make sustainability a focal point in their messaging by being clear about how their products protect the environment.

The opportunity to tout a brand’s commitment to sustainability can take on a lot of forms, but it’s important to be clear and direct and focus on how a product can provide a solution to an environmental issue. Many people report not knowing if the sustainability claims a brand makes are verifiable. “68% of UK adults agree that it is difficult to know if a homecare product is as eco-friendly as it claims to be.” (Mintel, internal presentation).

Luckily, consumers are hungry for more information, and are willing to try a new product if a brand is willing to be transparent. “72% of Germans who clean would switch to cleaning products that use less packaging.” (Mintel, A Year of Innovation in Household Cleaners, 2021).

It’s not enough to say “this package is eco-friendly.” Instead, brands should use their packaging to clearly state how the decisions they make impact the environment.

One way to do this is to connect packaging solutions to issues consumers are familiar with. Most consumers know that water is a scarce resource, and over half of U.S. consumers of soap and bath products try to cut back on their water consumption by taking shorter showers (Mintel, A Year of Innovation in Soap, Bath, and Shower, 2021). A brand that can demonstrate that they use less water and understand why this is important (smaller formats that use less material, less weight during transport) will jump forward and help buyers feel good about the decisions they’re making.

There are hurdles that we anticipate brands running into in the home and personal care sector. However, we believe these hurdles represent opportunities for cutting-edge innovations that can radically redefine the way consumers view eco-friendly home products.

For example, recycling is often the single-most recognizable action consumers are familiar with when it comes to sustainability. Many bag-in-box and pouch packaging solutions have recycle-ready components, but in many countries, the infrastructure to recycle these products isn’t quite there.

However, brands can take advantage of growing ecommerce trends to promote sustainable packaging solutions. Many companies are debuting direct-to-consumer product lines that allow subscribers to purchase refillable containers, which are usually filled from pouches and bag-in-box. They fill their containers and send back the empty bag-in-box or pouch packages to the company, which can more readily recycle spent packages.

This example presents a multi-faceted solution. Pouches use significantly fewer resources (source reduction, while not as popular as recycling, is critical to cutting back our carbon footprint) and the burden of finding a recycling center is removed from the end consumer. Brands can engage in active and positive climate action without using guilt-ridden or doomsday-like rhetoric.

Of course, this is just one solution, but the opportunities available because of bag-in-box and pouch packaging are endless. “Innovating with packaging that features recycled content, more concentrated and refill options which save on packaging, along with broader climate initiatives such as carbon offsetting and using renewable energy during production, will appeal to consumers looking for climate action from brands.” (Mintel, A Year of Innovation in Fabric and Dish Care, 2021).

It’s clear that the desire for eco-friendly solutions is there. Our audience is receptive, ready for change, and eager to engage with brands. Now is the time to implement new packaging solutions and consider how bag-in-box and pouch packaging can help you achieve your sustainability goals. Contact us to get started.