22 Sept 2026
- smol (partnering with Pulpex) launch pulp fibre bottle for laundry liquid.
- Made with renewable cellulose fibres from sustainably managed forests.
- The bottle is recycled through normal UK paper and card recycling collections.
- More than 58 million plastic laundry liquid bottles are sold in the UK every year.
- That's over 8,120 tonnes of plastic annually.
- A practical alternative to traditional plastic laundry packaging.
Walking down the laundry aisle you know you’re going to see the same old thing.
Big plastic bottles. Little plastic bottles. Plastic bottles pretending not to be plastic bottles.
Where is the innovation?
A new kind of laundry bottle.
Time for something different.
This autumn, smol will be launching laundry liquid products in a new pulp fibre bottle, developed in partnership with Pulpex.
You could call it a paper bottle. A fibre bottle. Or a cellulose bottle.
Whatever you prefer, it will cut your need for single-use plastic without loss of performance.
Why do laundry bottles need to change?
According to industry sales data:¹
- More than 58 million plastic laundry liquid containers are sold annually in the UK
- That's over 8,120 tonnes of plastic every year
- Equivalent to about half a million wheelie bins filled with plastic bottles
- Most of these bottles are only used once.
And while recycling is important, only 12% of the UK’s household plastic packaging is actually recycled.²
So reducing pointless plastic in the first place is a great place to start.
So what’s a pulp fibre bottle?
A pulp fibre bottle is a container made mostly from cellulose (plant) fibres.
Our new bottle is made by Pulpex using fibres from sustainably managed forests, certified by FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) and PEFC (Program for the endorsement of Forest Certification).
Using a patented process, wet forestry pulp is moulded into a strong, long-lasting bottle. It’s:
- Made using renewable cellulose fibres
- Lightweight and durable
- Suitable for liquids
- Designed to be recycled through standard UK paper and card collections
- Created to reduce the need for traditional plastic packaging
A new, scalable approach to laundry liquid packaging.
Is it really a paper bottle?
Yes... but there’s clever science involved.
The main body is forestry-based cellulose fibres, the same materials used to make paper, which is why people refer to it as a paper bottle.
But, because it needs to safely hold liquid detergent, there is impressive engineering involved.
The inside is coated with an ultra-thin water-based coating to protect the liquid and the dosing cap is made from 100% recycled polypropylene which can be recycled with household plastics.
Can you recycle a fibre laundry bottle?
Yes. The bottle can be recycled through normal UK paper and card recycling collections.
- Remove the cap and pop it in with your plastics
- Recycle the fibre bottle with paper and card.
Another smol step towards less plastic.
Since launching in 2018, we've challenged the idea that effective cleaning has to come wrapped in unnecessary waste.
Over the years, we've introduced:
- Plastic-free cardboard laundry packs
- Refillable bottles-for-life
- Concentrated refills that avoid shipping lots of unnecessary water
- Carton refill systems that use significantly less plastic than traditional bottles
The launch of our pulp fibre bottle is the latest exciting milestone in that journey.
And for the future?
We're proud to be launching this wonderfully clever fibre bottle for liquid laundry products.
If paper bottles and pulp fibre bottles become more widely adopted across the household cleaning brands, the potential reduction in plastic use could be huge.
Fibre bottle FAQs.
¹ Circana (formerly IRI) UK laundry liquid sales data, 2023-2024
² Greenpeace UK Everyday Plastic, The Big Plastic Count 2022, 1
Catherine Green, Cleaning Expert
Catherine has been on a mission to revolutionise the way we tackle chores since the dawn of smol and is an advocate for making more sustainable living accessible to all, with a strong focus in cleaning that’s heavy on dirt, lighter on the planet and gentle on the skin. Catherine has tested hundreds of hacks to make tackling chores easier, safer, and better for the planet and our homes.
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