Landmark Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) shows cartons have significantly smaller carbon footprint than plastic pouches for laundry detergent
Elopak has today published the findings of a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) study comparing the company’s D-PAK™ cartons with LDPE pouches for use as refill packaging for household products.
The study, commissioned by Elopak and undertaken by Anthesis, compared the environmental impact of using the D-PAK™ carton as a refill pack for a bottle of laundry detergent versus an LDPE plastic pouch in the EU market. The study found that cartons significantly outperform pouches across several categories, notably global warming, CO2 footprint, resource scarcity impact, and plastic reduction.
Key findings include:
• Global warming: Using a D-PAK™ carton as refill packaging, results in a 24% lower impact on global warming than a 1L pouch, rising to 28% for a 1.8L pouch. The carton still maintains an advantage even when LDPE pouches are made with 50% and 100% recycled material.
• Resource scarcity impact: Using a D-PAK™ carton as a refill solution is associated with a 33% lower resource scarcity impact than a 1L pouch. This increases to 38% for a 1.8L pouch.
• Plastic reduction: Using D-PAK™ cartons as a refill system uses 44% less plastic than LDPE pouches. A D-PAK™ carton contains 9.0g of plastic, compared to 20.1g of plastic in an LDPE pouch and 76.7g in a polypropylene bottle.
Commenting on the findings Elopak’s Senior Director for Sustainability Emilie Olderskog stated, “We are delighted to be able to share these findings, which show that Elopak cartons are a significantly more sustainable packaging solution for laundry detergent than common refill alternatives like pouches.”
“At Elopak we are committed to delivering more sustainable packaging options for our customers and their consumers. This LCA now demonstrates that by choosing fiber-based cartons, home and personal care brands can offer shoppers similar sustainability advantages as Elopak customers in the food and drink sector. This gives consumers a more environmentally responsible option right across the supermarket aisles,” she continued.
Previous LCAs have demonstrated the sustainability credentials of cartons compared to plastic bottles for products such as milk and juice. A 2020 meta-analysis of LCA studies commissioned by the Alliance for Beverage Cartons and the Environment (ACE – now the Food and Beverage Carton Alliance) found that beverage cartons had an average carbon footprint of 83g CO2/L, compared to 156g CO2/L for PET bottles, 430g CO2/L for single-use glass bottles, and 100g CO2 /litre for reusable glass bottles.
Having relaunched the D-PAK™ carton in 2021, Elopak has helped well-known brands including Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, Omo and Paperdent to adopt more sustainable packaging solutions for home and personal care products, ranging from laundry detergent to fabric softener, mouthwash and even wiper fluid.
These latest LCA findings follow research published by Elopak in 2024, which demonstrated that consumers in the UK and Germany are keen to purchase refills of several household goods in cartons, including hand soap, washing up liquid and floor cleaner. 64% of those surveyed said they would be happy to purchase fabric softener in a carton, along with 61% who said they would buy detergent and 59% who would buy floor cleaner if it came in a carton refill pack.
Following the launch of its strategy, ‘Repackaging tomorrow’, in September 2024, Elopak is working to leverage the plastic replacement shift as a key pillar of its growth plans. This includes bringing fiber-based packaging to new markets and product segments as more brands and consumers look for ways to reduce their reliance on plastics.