Country: Germany

Category: Household

Henkel is world market leader in the toilet rimblock business with highly premium but non-recyclable PET-cardboard blister packaging, where the product is visible through the pack. Switching to a fully circular pack, where the product is not visible anymore, was a big challenge for us.
Together with KOROZO group, we developed a Mono-PE stand-up pouch with a zipper and a premium flexo-printed artwork with many gloss and fading effects. The MDOPE-LDPE structured pouch comes with a PE zipper and a notched triple perforation line, enabling consumers to easily open and reclose the pack - major pain points of the current blister pack. Being a savers pack for a highly scented product, the PE pouch holds back a maximum of fragrance when stored at home while allowing consumers to have a subtle olfactory impression of the product already on-shelf.
Due to the highly efficient use of plastic material, we could reduce the packaging plastic per product by 75%! In addition, we developed a structured nesting pattern for the rimblocks inside the pouch that allows us to reduce the pouch size to an absolute minimum. Compared to the current blister packaging, this leads to a saving of 1/3 of trucks on the road - a massive CO2 emission saving. Compared to respective competitor products, we can place more products in a smaller pouch, while having a fully recyclable mono-structure. In combination with the transparent rPP rimblocks, the full packaging is recyclable.
Finally, by cutting the packagig material input and the transport logistics, we can pass on the cost saving to the consumers. the new pack is a big market success.
This example perfectly shows that becoming circular via a disruptive packaging change does not mean to compromise on quality and premiumization. The move is appreciated by consumers and is a great example for decision makers in FMCG brand owners.