Dove Launches Eco-Friendly Refillable Deodorant

US personal care giant Dove has launched its first refillable deodorant, which aims to tackle the culture of disposal. The product adopts eco-aligned packaging solutions in an effort to reduce single-use plastic, bringing indie sustainable innovations and eco-conscious values to mainstream audiences.

Packaging accounts for around 30% of the total volume of plastic use globally – a figure that totalled 110 million tonnes in 2019 (Kearney, 2019). Dove partnered with international campaign group A Plastic Planet to revolutionise its use of materials. The product features an eco-friendly alternative stainless-steel case which uses 54% less plastic than the brand’s regular deodorant, and 98% of the plastic that is used is recycled. The white outer packaging is made of 100% Forest Stewardship Council-grade paper – an international organisation that works to promote the practice of sustainable forestry worldwide.

“The entire design and manufacturing process are based around a mission to avoid excess material use,” Augusto Garzon, Dove's global vice president of deodorants, told US women’s beauty magazine Allure.

Dove aims to embrace environmentally friendly initiatives with its 2025 commitment plan of minimising the use of virgin plastic by more than 20,500 tonnes per year. As we address in Packaging Futures 20/21: Mainstreaming Eco Packaging, refill opportunities that are convenient and simple to use will thrive as, if given the option, more than 80% of US consumers said they would buy products that didn’t use single-use packaging (Shelton Group, 2019).

In the face of the climate crisis, consumers are striving to radically reduce packaging waste. Brands should be leading the way by grounding themselves in renewability and sustainability. For more on how to treat packaging as a valuable asset, see Packaging Innovations 2020 and Beauty Sustainability Round-Up December 2020.