The “eco-refill” 2.5litre pouch is being trialed exclusively in Homebase this month and incorporates a re-sealable, tamper proof screw cap.
Letty Edwards, UK Marketing Director, Dulux said: “We know that packaging is seen by the customer as one of the main environmental issues when purchasing paint. This trial is a response to this, and a move towards achieving our sustainability ambition, which is to halve the environmental footprint of our products and packaging.
“This means achieving a reduction of 50% in our CO2 emissions, VOCs and waste by 2020.The results of this trial, which is an excellent test bed for us, will be fed into the development of our future packaging solutions.”
The Dulux pouches are available in 2.5L Magnolia matt and Pure Brilliant White matt emulsion.
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In claiming a ‘reduction in waste to landfill by 70 per cent compared to the standard can’, I trust that Dulux is not referring to metal paint cans?
Metal is 100 per cent recyclable and all metal packaging sent for recycling is recycled. Zero waste to landfill is a very real possibility for metal packaging which enjoys among the highest recycling rates of all packaging materials. This applies as much to metal paint cans as it does to all other forms of metal packaging.
Interestingly too, our own industry research shows that consumers like metal paint cans for their robustness in particular – and especially during transportation between store and home, and in storage.
Nick Mullen
Director
Metal Packaing manufacturers Association
Most customers use the tin/bucket to paint from – a great idea but I can see accidents and claims coming….
Great idea in principle but to use the paint it will be decanted into a paint kettle, bucket or tray. It is likely that all the paint decanted will not be used (we don’t want to waste paint), so it goes back in the pouch and putting it back in the pouch is going to be very tricky. On the other hand a current wide mouthed tin or tub is easy.
It says “70% less plastic” so I dont think it is refering to metal cans? I cant remember the last time I painted directly from a can of emulsion ? Most people tip the can into a tray and use a roller? A can is awful to pour from and is messy – the spouted pouch is ideal for delivering small quantities into a tray to minimise waste paint to almost zero. A great idea and a great example of complex packaging lightweighting. As always the real issue in rigid replacement with pouch is the secondary packaging to palletise and optimise iso-modularity.
whilst metal can be recycled, what is then done with it?
can someone please tell me?
David Morgan
Hello David,
In reponse to your question, metal is infinitely recyclable. When steel cans are collected they ultimately end up in a steel works and turned into a new metal product. Your steel container can end up as part of a car, train, washing machine etc, or even as a new paint can. Steel scrap is a fundamental part of the steel making process and is a valuable raw material for our industry.
Nicola Bennett
Tata Steel
This is a very interesting direction for paint packaging, the claimed improvement in usability is very valid and the reduction in weight to landfill is a comparison probably to the plastic paint tubs and copies of metal tins not real metal containers that have been phased out of emulsion sales for some years. The next logical step is to move this flexible pack into refilling at the store particularly for the trade section of the market. Richard Garnett – eziserv Ltd.
It will be interesting to see what DIY consumers think to this idea – if they follow the supermarket shoppers behaviour, it could be a short life. This concept has been seen in both milk (Sainsbury) and fabric conditioner (Asda) and neither appear to have replaced the “best in class” packaging on shelf. In the case of Asda, the idea of taking your used bag back to re-fill in-store was probably a bridge too far – you can therefore imagine what people could think about re-filling paint.
This isn’t totally new to DIY, PPG launched paint in plastic bags in France for their Riplon some years ago, but withdrew it after 6 months of trials. Matt Sykes – Ardagh Group
Matt, thanks for your comments. The acceptance by shoppers in the trials you mentioned have been and remain very strong and I will happily share the data with you. The major resistance is from the changes to the business model of the manufacturers who have significant sunk capital in packaging production and filling machinery. The benefits to consumers, retailers and the environment have been confirmed and consumer demand for more products in this format is high. The technology for fast and clean operation is available, the obstacle to delivering significant change in this area is the inertia of current investment strategies and some timidity from brand management. The ability to significantly reduce the packaging content of many products is available now and while unpalatable for producers of current formats Dulux and the other first movers are showing us the future. Richard Garnett – eziserv
The question to ask here is “what is the shelve life”? Can you store half a pouch of paint in your garage for 12 months without defect? Would you trust a pouch not to split or burst? The consumer will need a lot of reassurance. The second thing to address is price and choice. Sure, consumers want to do their bit for the environment but not if it costs more, make the pouches less expensive than tins/plastic tubs and consumers may give it a try. Whilst the choice remains on the shelve for pouches or tubs/tins then the pouch will lose out. Whenever a new product is launched it needs to “better” than the product it is replacing (or competing against). You can “stir” a tin, you can paint “from” a tin, a tin can be “stacked” when stored, you can pour product back in to the tin with ease. Tubs and tins CAN be recycled. Branding is superior given the rigid nature of plastic/tin. Can all these things be done with pouches? If it works, great. If it doesn’t then it could be an expensive flop. Watch this space.