When niche ideas like refillable packaging and waterless formulations hit the shelves at mass retailers, you know real change is possible. Softsoap, the number-one liquid hand soap brand, has its sights set on reducing plastic waste with the launch of the brand's new Foaming Hand Soap Tablets and refillable, recyclable aluminum bottle. It's the first refill option in tablet form to be offered by a major brand in the US.

The new foaming table system is frictionless. The new product innovation features biodegradable cleansing ingredients in an easy-to-use tablet form to encourage reuse and refill as an alternative to buying new plastic bottles. Traditional hand soap refills tend to be heavy, cumbersome, and often messy. This new format is simple—fill the recyclable aluminum bottle with water, drop in a tablet, and wait for it to fizz up and turn into foaming hand soap with all the attributes that the brand is known for.

When big brands make small changes, it matters. The Softsoap Foaming Tablet Starter Kit uses 71% less plastic than a traditional foaming plastic soap bottle. Using the Softsoap Foaming Tablets Refill Kits, 92% less plastic is used than traditional hand soap refills. In 2020 alone, more than 455 million plastic liquid hand soap pump bottles were sold. If every person who bought a plastic hand soap pump bottle in 2020 switched to Softsoap Foaming Tablets Starter Kits, it would save more than 150 million plastic pump bottles of soap from entering landfills.

As a brand found in 53 million North American households, Softsoap wants to make sustainability a household habit," said Emily Fong Mitchell, General Manager, North America Personal Care, Colgate-Palmolive. "The launch of Softsoap Foaming Tablets is a big step as we work to build a more sustainable, healthier future for all. Given our reach, we understand the impact of this step on the entire industry. We're excited to be leading this change as the first major CPG brand to offer a refill option in tablet form.

This launch aligns with Colgate-Palmolive's Sustainability & Social Impact Strategy, which aims to eliminate one-third of new plastics as part of its transition to 100% recyclable, reusable, or compostable plastic packaging by 2025. As part of this strategy, Softsoap plans to move all pump bottles to 100% post-consumer recycled packaging by the end of 2022.

The Softsoap Foaming Tablet Starter Kit is $5.99 (1 aluminum bottle and 2 refill tablets to make 2 bottles of soap), and the Softsoap Foaming Tablet Refill Kit is $4.99 (3 tablets to make 3 bottles of soap), available in Sparkling Lavender, Lemon Fizz, and Fresh Coconut.