The far-reaching sustainability programme launched in 2010 by consumer products giant Procter & Gamble has borne fruit with a clamshell pack that significantly reduces the amount of plastic used and incorporates mouldable pulp.
The packaging for Gillette Fusion ProGlide razors uses 57% less plastic than the original clamshell outer packaging and razor tray. Gross weight was reduced by 20%.
The packaging also contains fibrous materials such as bamboo, sugar cane and bulrush in a mixture that is first made into a liquid slurry and then moulded into place. P&G worked with Be Green Packaging, based in California, the US, which designs and makes compostable packaging.
P&G says: "The structure stays strong under compression, sealing and opening forces, and distribution and transportation stresses, while also maintaining a strong visual presence on the shelf."
The packaging, which won a DuPont Award for Packaging Innovation in 2011, was launched in western Europe last year and will launch in North America in the first half of 2012.
P&G set itself very high sustainability targets in 2010, declaring its intention to convert all packaging to renewable or recyclable materials. By 2020, it hopes to replace 25% of all petroleum-based materials with renewables.