Could dissolving tabs banish plastic bottles from our cupboards?
They can hold everything from soap to fabric softener
A SMALL tab the size of a teabag which could spell the end of the shampoo bottle has been created by a leading cosmetics company.
The squares could ‘end the plastic crisis for ever’, according to Procter & Gamble, the giant behind brands such as Ariel and Pantene.
The new concept, DS3, allows consumers to select a little white ‘swatch’ which then, as if by magic, transforms into a detergent when water is added.
To wash your hair with one of the products, you take one of the square pieces of material and lather it up with water instead of relying on a plastic bottle of shampoo or conditioner.
The pads are mostly single use and dissolve when added to water. They have been created using a manufacturing process patented by P&G, which has spent a decade dreaming up the idea with experts.
Different types of detergent carry pictures to show their intended use.
‘It really is a breakthrough’
For example, shampoo has a picture of a person’s hair and laundry detergent shows a drawing of a shirt, while toilet cleaner depicts a lavatory.
The idea behind the concept is to dramatically reduce plastic waste and lessen the impact that cleaning products have on the environment.
Samples of the products have already been shipped to a small number of buyers in the US. For a box of 120 tabs for personal care – a selection of shampoo, conditioner, face wash and shower gel – the test price was $29 (£22).
Other cleaning and grooming products in the range include hand wash, lavatory cleaner, laundry detergent, surface cleaner and shower gel. For the surface cleaner, one pod mixed into a bottle of water should last for weeks.
They come in a variety of scents, from pineapple to mint and sandalwood. Because the swatches contain no water, their production removes 80 per cent of the weight generated by traditional cleaning products and 75 per cent of emissions, according to Kathy Fish, chief research, development and innovation officer at P&G.
At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Mrs Fish said: ‘This technology could transform many product categories. One liquid-free swatch works better than water-based cleaning products.’
She added that in the US, ‘wide use of this technology could help reduce one million plastic bottles a year. It could also cut 12million pounds of carbon dioxide from over 100,000 trucks and the 800million gallons of water required to make, ship and use everyday household and personal care products.’
The pods are also much lighter and cheaper to ship than normal household cleaning products.
And they are made of all-natural ingredients, are preservative free, and come in bamboo boxes. Mrs Fish added: ‘From a resource scarcity point of view it is really a breakthrough. There’s no plastic here, these are bamboo containers, they are totally plastic free. Consumers want more natural products.’
The concept comes after the Daily Mail’s Turn The Tide On Plastic campaign, calling for a ban on plastic microbeads in cosmetics and a levy on plastic bags.
The Scottish Daily Mail’s Banish the Bottles drive also led to a Scottish Government pledge to implement a bottle deposit scheme to cut litter and boost recycling north of the Border.
P&G could one day use its new technique to dramatically reduce the amount of plastic used in goods found in homes across Britain.
So far, the line has been sold to just over 400 US customers on Indiegogo, a website which tests new products through crowdfunding before a wider launch.