Palmolive Dish Soap in a Reusable Bottle Slashes Plastic Use, Waste

Colgate-Palmolive and Walmart have teamed up to develop and sell Palmolive Shake & Clean dish soap, which features reusable packaging that results in 75% less plastic waste versus buying a new 20-oz bottle of dish soap.

The product’s starter kit includes one reusable 20-oz polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottle and one 5-oz pouch of 4x concentrated dish soap gel.

The reusable bottle is made from 100% recycled plastic and can be recycled when it arrives at the end of its useful life, after many refills. The cartons used for the starter kit and two-packs of refill pouches are also recyclable.

To mix the product, the consumer fills the reusable bottle to a fill line with tap water, squeezes the contents of a refill pouch into the water, and gently shakes the bottle to activate the concentrated gel.

“Sustainability is a core value that we embrace, and we’re excited to further deliver on our commitment to sustainability by teaming up with Walmart on this innovation with a breakthrough new technology,” said Joana Baquero, marketing director for dish at Colgate-Palmolive, in a prepared statement. “[W]ith Palmolive Shake & Clean, we’re taking a step towards a healthier, zero-waste future, and we will continue to evolve our sustainability efforts.”

The Palmolive Shake & Clean starter kit and refill pouches are sold exclusively at Walmart’s 2,000 stores and via the retailer’s website.

“Walmart has long-standing commitments in sustainability, including selling products that use less resources and generate less waste,” said Corey Bender, merchandising vice president, household essentials, for Walmart US. “We are thrilled to collaborate with Colgate-Palmolive to bring Palmolive Shake & Clean Dish Soap to our customers, an innovative product that provides very effective cleaning while reducing plastic waste.”

In addition to reducing waste, the product concept eliminates a great deal of water transportation, further reducing its carbon footprint. The dish soap itself contains no parabens or phosphates and is biodegradable.

Palmolive Shake & Clean is the latest example of Palmolive’s efforts to reduce plastic waste. The brand started down that road two years ago when it transitioned all 46-oz and smaller Palmolive Ultra dish soap bottles to 100% recycled plastic. The result was 5,200 tons less plastic waste in a year, based on 2021 US and Canada product volume.