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Plastic-free Packaging for Homecare Line

Kelly Murosky, Senior Packaging Engineer at Seventh Generation, the Burlington, Vt.-based firm that sells eco-friendly cleaning, paper, and personal care products, talks about the packaging for the new Zero Plastic Homecare line.

The new line from Seventh Generation includes powders as well as tablets.
The new line from Seventh Generation includes powders as well as tablets.

• How challenging is it to get to a package that is zero plastic?

It’s not easy. In our case it helped to have the project grounded in a team that we call our Growth Incubator Team. Small and agile, it lets us bring a new idea to market quickly so that we can get real-world learnings on the idea and then iterate and optimize. This was the team’s first big launch. 

• And who is represented on the team?

I’m the sole packaging professional, and I’m joined by people in product formulation, sustainability, brand management, consumer insights, supply chain, and finance. It’s essentially one team member from each of the major departments to bring a broad range of expertise.

• Your firm is pretty well known for pushing the boundaries when it comes to developing sustainable packaging. Was there anything different this time around?Kelly Murosky, Senior Packaging Engineer at Seventh Generation.Kelly Murosky, Senior Packaging Engineer at Seventh Generation.

What this represents is not a traditional Seventh Generation launch. It’s what we call test-learn-iterate. The idea is to use the marketplace launch to learn what consumers think rather than do consumer research prior to launch. It allowed us to launch within about a year instead of the two or three years that might ordinarily be the case. The team kicked off formally in July of last year and product went into production this July. The plan is to improve upon the proposition as we learn more through interacting with consumers and getting their feedback. It’s a matter of moving the consumer input phase from the innovation stream to post-launch.

• Did you decide on steel as the packaging material at an early stage?

Since speed to market was such a priority, we favored a number of off-the-shelf packaging technologies very early on. We knew we didn’t have time for a long R&D development timeline as we sought our plastic-free option. We determined that tin-plate steel canisters offered the best moisture barrier for our product and that they would help us achieve the required shelf life. We also explored paper-based packaging, but the existing technologies we tested couldn’t achieve the required moisture barrier that we needed unless we included a plastic coating or liner. But remember, we want this to be truly plastic-free. Right down to the paper tamper-evident stickers we apply, which also help keep the closure from coming loose during e-commerce distribution.

• I see six varieties all in one container size. Is it a stock container?

Off-the-shelf tin-plate steel containers are easy enough to find, but we did have custom dimensions in mind so that the one container we specified would meet the needs imposed by both tablets and powders. The tablets, for example, are stacked in four columns nine-high for a 36-count presentation. And for the powders we have custom sifter inserts for dosing, one with larger openings for the toilet bowl cleaner while the kitchen, bathroom, and hand soap powders all use an insert with smaller openings for more controlled dosing.

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