Paper not Plastic: Tom’s of Maine repackages the full Natural Strength Deodorant line

18-Feb-2021 - Last updated on 18-Feb-2021 at 15:30 GMT

photo courtesy of the brand

The Colgate-Palmolive subsidiary is taking steps to reduce plastic waste, developing and using plastic packaging that is actually recyclable and opting for alternatives to plastic as well.

In her remarks to the press this month about the personal care product brand’s new paper deodorant packaging, Esi Seng, General Manager at Tom's of Maine spoke for the team, saying, “We are so excited to announce the launch of 100% plastic-free packaging for our Natural Strength Deodorant line.”

“It demonstrates the bold actions we take so people can choose Tom's and help protect planet Earth and create a better world,” says Seng, who went on to reinforce the brand’s mission: “Tom's of Maine brings the best of science and best of nature together to develop amazing personal care products designed to take care of you, our communities and our planet.”

Tom’s shifts to plastic-free packaging for popular deodorant line

“Natural Strength Deodorant will be exclusively in paper packaging, a perfect fit for the aluminum-free formulas which use only naturally derived ingredients and provide powerful, 48-hour odor protection,” announces the brand in this month’s press release about the new packaging.

Deodorant in the new paper packaging is already being sold online at Amazon and Walmart, and at Target too. The latter is also the exclusive retailer of the new Tom’s of Maine Natural Strength Deodorant “sensitive” varieties: Creamy Coconut and Fresh Rose (shown on the right at the top of the page). Those deodorants are formulated with natural fragrances and hemp seed oil, according to the release.

Changing the packaging to reduce plastic waste

Tom’s is taking steps to reduce plastic waste by more than 60 tons this year. And the brand shares stats like: deodorant packaging that amounts to over 28,000 tons of plastic is sold each year and that not even 20% of that plastic is recycled.

The brand isn’t eliminating all plastic. Tom’s of Maine is also taking steps to ensure that the plastic packaging it does use can actually be recycled. In late 2019, Tom’s launched a mono-material plastic toothpaste tube.

“The #2 plastic continues to have a strong recycling stream,” noted the brand in a media release circulated at the time. “The new Tom’s of Maine recyclable tube is designed to be ‘circular’, so that the material can be re-processed into new products and packaging.”