Save your scoops - those not-so-fantastic plastic measuring cups that come in every pack of powder from the big household brands are to be phased out in New Zealand, with Unilever announcing it will ditch them next year from Surf laundry powder.
Unilever says the change will remove 14.9 tonnes of plastic from the landfill every year from now on.
That change is coming sooner thanks to the efforts of Fair Go consumer hero, Nico Tauri, from Russell / Kororāreka.
“One day I was watching my mum do the laundry and I noticed she had three plastic laundry scoops from the laundry powder. That got me thinking, ‘Do we really need a scoop in every box?’” the nine-year-old Russell School student said.
Nico surveyed 218 people via his mum’s Facebook page and emails to his school community.
“Seventy-three per cent said they wouldn’t mind if there was no scoop,” he said.
“I asked, ‘Would a cardboard scoop be better?’ and 56 per cent said yes. Thirty-one per cent still said no, just don’t have a scoop at all.”
The biggest brand in his survey was Surf, followed by Persil. Both are made for New Zealand by global giant Unilever. With some help from Fair Go, Nico got through to the company and interviewed an executive based in Sydney via Zoom, where he presented his findings.
“You did an excellent survey, and we can see people definitely want to use less plastic,” Unilever Australia and New Zealand head of homecare, Lorna Ash, told Nico.
“In New Zealand from next year we'll be removing the plastic scoops from Surf.
“We use 3.7 million scoops in Surf, so we'll be saving an awful lot of scoops by removing that scoop from Surf powder and getting everyone to keep using what they already have.”
Persil powder adds another 2.3 million scoops a year to the load – but they will still be added to each pack for now while Unilever checks with consumers to see how the change goes down.
Rival manufacturers are also telling consumers to prepare for changes and some brands like Ecostore and Ecowise have ditched plastic scoops already.
Fair Go understands Unilever had looked at a trial ditching the scoops in smaller packs before being called to action by Nico and his research.
The company has since decided to remove the plastic scoops from all boxes in Australia and New Zealand, making this Consumer Hero Fair Go’s first trans-Tasman winner.
“Every little bit of plastic we don’t have to buy is better for everyone,” Nico said.
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