Dr. Bronner’s, a natural soap brand in North America, has unveiled its new 32oz soap refill carton for its Pure-Castile Liquid Soap product. 

Now available across the US, this packaging allows customers to replenish their existing bottles or containers, in turn significantly cutting down on plastic consumption.  

By opting for these refill cartons, users will utilise 82% less plastic compared with the brand's 32oz post-consumer recycled (PCR) plastic bottles. 

The refill cartons are crafted from 69% Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)-certified paper, 5% aluminium, and 26% polyethylene, topped with a polypropylene cap.  

Unlike typical carton packages with a wax interior that degrades with soap, these cartons have a thin plastic lining, minimising the total plastic required.  

Dr. Bronner’s says it is committed to further reducing plastic in these cartons to more than 90% within the next year. 

Dr. Bronner’s 'cosmic engagement officer' David Bronner said: “We created our Pure-Castile Liquid Soap Refill Carton to reduce the number of plastic bottles we put into the world. Ideally, the recycling rate for plastic bottles in this country would be close to 100%.  

“Unfortunately, the rate is closer to 30%, and disposal of plastic packaging in landfills is not sustainable. We commissioned a life cycle analysis looking at what packaging material was most ecological to package our refill offering in: paper carton vs aluminium vs glass vs plastic.  

“The paper carton performed the best on every relevant ecological impact measure even when accounting for the recycling rates of each material, nationally.”  

The life cycle analysis was conducted with EcoImpact-COMPASS.

The analysis revealed that paper cartons had the lowest environmental impact, even when considering landfill disposal, compared with other materials such as aluminium and glass. 

Dr. Bronner’s has been using 100% PCR plastic bottles for its liquid soaps for more than 15 years.