Wal-Mart achieves aim of smaller bottles for detergents

The retailer said it would decide whether to roll out the packaging-saving plan to the UK and the rest of the world once it has assessed these results.

The firm said the transition to selling only concentrated detergent had acted as a “catalyst” to transform the entire liquid laundry detergent category across the retail industry.

Wal-Mart has been phasing-out larger bottles for the Unilever, Procter & Gamble, Dial, Huish and Church & Dwight brands since October 2007, starting in Florida and Texas and culminating last week with New York and Massachusetts.

The retailer said the switch to “greener” bottles would save more than 45,000 tonnes of plastic resin, 59,000 tonnes of cardboard and 1.6 billion litres of water over three years.

In 2005, Wal-Mart worked with Unilever to reduce the packaging of its liquid detergents and the following year unveiled “All Small & Mighty” bottles in the US.

These were launched in the UK in 2007 for the Persil and Surf brands. Unilever claimed the switch had reduced packaging by 40% and water usage and shipping volumes by 60%.

Procter & Gamble followed Unilever’s lead in the US in 2007.

Wal-Mart has also pledged to reduce packaging by 5% by 2013.

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