How we calculate this
1. The avoided bottle. An empty plastic bottle for 40 washes weighs ~50 g. POWR comes in cardboard.
2. But not everyone buys liquid. Of all the detergent sold in Europe, 47% is liquid, 42% powder and 11% capsules. Powder comes in cardboard, and since Ariel and Persil took the plastic scoop out of the box there is no plastic in it. So only that 47% actually replaces a bottle.
3. Weighted. 50 g x 47% = 23.5 g per 40 washes, conservatively rounded to 23 g.
Estimate: for capsules we do not know the plastic in their tub, so we count them as zero. And if a scoop is in a powder box after all, it does not count either. Both choices make our figure smaller, never bigger.
Source
Comparison with a conventional liquid detergent in a plastic (HDPE) bottle. An empty bottle for about 40 washes weighs ~50 g; POWR uses recyclable FSC cardboard (~0 g plastic). Verifiable yourself by weighing an empty detergent bottle.
The 47% liquid / 42% powder / 11% capsules split. From the market figures the European Commission research centre (JRC) used for the EU Ecolabel revision, based on Euromonitor via the detergent federation A.I.S.E.: liquid EUR 4.05 billion, powder EUR 3.55 billion, capsules EUR 0.95 billion. We deliberately leave fabric softener and laundry aids out of that count — POWR is pure detergent, so we compare only with detergent.
JRC: laundry detergent market figures, EU Ecolabel revision
Estimate: those figures are from 2012 and by sales value, not by number of washes. Liquid has been gaining on powder since: with more recent figures our number would come out higher, not lower. We stay on 2012 because it makes our own claim smaller. Belgium is not broken out; the powder share varies sharply by country (Poland 92%, Italy 27%).
The scoop. Ariel and Persil took the plastic scoop out of their powder boxes to save plastic; you order one free from their site. So we count powder as zero plastic.
Ariel: order your free dosing device
Laundry detergent bottle specifications (HDPE)
Why this matters
Plastic does not disappear. It breaks into ever smaller pieces and stays in our soil, rivers and sea for centuries. Every piece of packaging that is never made is the only plastic guaranteed never to wash up anywhere.
Concretely: this box replaces one whole plastic detergent bottle that never has to be made, filled, shipped or thrown away. And you can check it yourself: just weigh an empty detergent bottle.
This comparison is only here to make the number tangible. It is an illustration, not hard science.
By choosing an IMPACT product you avoid all of this. That does society, today and tomorrow, an enormous service and makes a big positive difference to the future of us all.
