Procter & Gamble announces First Lenor Paper Bottle Pilot

Lenor paper bottle

• Procter & Gamble’s Fabric & Home Care department intends to reduce plastic faster in the mission to create fully bio-based bottles along with an association of innovators to become part of the solution for sustainable packaging.
• P&G’s Fabric Enhancer brand Lenor reveals an actual prototype paper bottle on its route to overcome both its plastic and carbon footprint

P&G introduced its first paper bottle for Lenor in cooperation with paper bottle business Paboco, publishing a pilot for Western Europe in 2022. 

Lenor Paper Bottle Trial

The trial rollout will form the foundation of a test-and-learn approach to scale up paper packaging and include it more broadly across P&G’s portfolio.

P&G Fabric & Home Care, with its well-known brands including Ariel, Lenor, Tide, Downy, Fairy, and Cascade, is thoroughly bound to decreasing plastics in its packaging. 

Future 2030

Now it’s further part of 2030 Ambition, P&G intends to decrease its use of virgin plastics by 50% by 2030. Fabric Care Europe has committed to a 30% absolute plastics reduction by 2025 and outlines 100% recyclability by 2022 – it is well on track for both commitments. Home Care is committed to doing no virgin plastics by 2025. 

Brand-led packaging options and pilot projects are crucial factors in the pathways to lowering environmental impact.

Paper bottle technology

Paboco’s paper bottle technology is developing quickly and ensures reducing and replacing plastic content while lowering carbon footprint compared to conventional plastic packaging. The options of packaging are more viable and scaling at pace, backed by driving consumer goods companies and industry specialists including The Coca-Cola Company, Carlsberg Group, The Absolut Company, L’Oréal, BillerudKorsnäs, and ALPLA joined by the vision to produce the world’s first 100% bio-based and recyclable paper bottle at scale.

Senior Vice President of R&D for Global Fabric & Home Care Sector Jerry Porter explains:

“We’re very excited to join this group of packaging innovators. This is another milestone on our P&G Fabric & Home Care journey to innovate more sustainable packaging formats. Our chosen pilot brand Lenor has a great track record of incorporating recycled plastic into its packaging, already using up to 100% in its European transparent bottles. Now we aim to go a step further with bio-based packaging, which has a bright future. We are delighted to be on this journey with our partners in the development of the next generations of paper bottles.”

Speaking on behalf of Paboco, interim CEO Gittan Schiöld noted:

“Our vision is to change this industry for good and to create a world less dependent on plastic and without plastic waste by designing for circularity and inventing packaging from bio-based materials. Storing liquids in the paper is particularly challenging, but its successful adoption could have major benefits for the planet. Having P&G Fabric & Home Care category as a partner in the paper bottle community is a huge boost to that vision. Not only does it add weight to the viability of the technology but brings with it P&G’s know-how to the table, offering new opportunities for scaling Paboco’s paper bottle technology.”

Lenor’s first paper bottle is a move on the bio-based packaging campaign. The bottle now significantly decreases plastic matched to a bottle used today. The bottle is the first of its kind presented at scale, in its design and technology, created from sustainably sourced FSC-certified paper and initially a thin plastic barrier made from post-consumer recycled PET. 

Building on learnings from this milestone, future versions of the bottle will integrate the wall into the paper lining to create a seamless, 100% bio-based bottle, fully recyclable in the paper stream.

All P&G’s leadership brands, including Lenor, are expected to inspire responsible consumption by 2030 as part of the company’s Ambition 2030 sustainability goals.

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