Olay, owned by Procter & Gamble, will begin the 3 month trial from October this year, in the UK and the US. The Regenerist Whip moisturiser jar will come in a 100% recycled paper box, with a recyclable pod that can be inserted into the glass jar once the original as been used.
The news will be welcomed by consumer groups as the pressure for big chains and brand names to provide more sustainable packaging grows. As Waitrose this week announced their plans to begin offering food dispensers to encourage shoppers to use their own containers, Olay will be the first major beauty brand to adopt this approach.
Niche and luxury brands Lush and L’Occitane have already launched plastic free products, with Lush offering a huge range from shampoo bars to eye masks all without unnecessary plastic.
Anitra Marsh, P&G’s associate director of brand communications, says: “The ultimate goal is to find and adopt many more sustainable packaging solutions, and the refillable Olay Regenerist Whip package is the first step of that journey. It’s really important for us to get it right because only then can we bring this concept to market at scale.”
