From the 1st of March, consumers in Malta started to see smaller, ‘compressed’ cans for female and male deodorants on supermarkets shelves. Unilever has chosen Malta for its first European launch outside the UK and Ireland.

The new cans – including Dove, Dove for Men, Sure, Sure for Men, Vaseline, Vaseline for Men and Lynx - last the same length of time as previous cans while using only 50 per cent of the propellant, making them half the size (ml).

As a result, switching to the new can will have tangible environmental benefits, including reducing the overall carbon footprint of the product by an average of 25 per cent per can. Across the selected brands, the new-look cans use on average 25 per cent less aluminium and, due to the smaller size, 53 per cent more cans fit onto a pallet.

Presiding over a Press Conference to mark this event, The Minister for Sustainable Development, the Environment and Climate Change, Honorouble Mr. Leo Brincat, said “As Minister for the Environment I welcome any technological innovation that can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and waste for disposal. The environment is best served and protected by eco-friendly products that use the corporate sector's R&D facilities for sustainable product innovation. “

Mr. George Borg from George Borg Ltd, and Mr. Sean Portelli from V&F Portelli & Sons Ltd, local representatives of Unilever, said, “This is why we’re proud to represent Unilever’s product line in Malta. Unilever is becoming a leader in sustainability and we believe that this new innovation represents a genuine shift change in the way aerosol deodorants can be manufactured. Furthermore, the fact that they chose Malta to launch these compressed deodorants outside the UK territory speaks volumes in view of the island’s sustainability goals.”

The new cans are a result of years of research and leading-edge innovation, which will allow Unilever to make positive progress towards two of its ambitious Unilever Sustainable Living Plan targets:

-          to halve the greenhouse gas impact of products across the lifecycle by 2020

-          to halve the waste associated with the disposal of products by 2020