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- 04/17/2019

Compaction of household laundry detergents has enabled significant environmental savings

HPC Today

Over the past 20 years, the amount of laundry detergent used in Europe has decreased considerably, even though there has been an increase in the number of households, and consequently in the number of washloads. This decrease by half in average dosage needed to do the laundry over the period is the direct result of a series of voluntary initiatives led and coordinated by A.I.S.E. on behalf of the detergents industry. Such initiatives have been key to help reduce the environment footprint of laundry washing!

 

Between 1997 and 2017:

  • The total tonnage of detergent decreased by 45%, saving about 30 million tonnes of detergent
  • The average dosage has been reduced by half

The industry’s drive to compact its powder and liquid laundry detergents has been achieved through six separately initiated projects over a 20-year period, from the Code of Environmental Practice to various laundry sustainability projects and product resource efficiency projects. These projects have driven industry-wide innovation in the optimal use of ingredients and packaging, leading to reduced transport, savings in packaging and reduced CO2 emissions.   

This overview of two decades of compaction is complemented by the release today by A.I.S.E. of three specific close out reports related to the last compaction initiatives which took place across Europe namely: laundry detergent powder compaction (LSP-2 and PREP-P3) and heavy duty liquid laundry detergent sustainability project (LSP-L).

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