A new Australian owned and made plant-based soap brand, Keeper Clean, is pitched as a luxurious, chemical-free product in packaging that is either compostable or recyclable, and almost completely plastic-free.
Founder of the company, Bonnie Macqueen started the brand a few years ago when she first moved out of home and discovered how much plastic she had accumulated, from the plastic needed to move and set up a new apartment, to how frequently she was replacing, rather than reusing, cleaning products.
“My awareness of my personal impact on the environment motivated me to reduce single-use plastics in my home and encourage my peers and family to do the same,” Macqueen tells PKN.
“I did so much research into refills that didn’t come packaged in more plastic, but I kept coming up short. I was constantly reading about how waste and plastic pollution was becoming more and more of a problem in the world and I decided that I wanted to start a business that would help fight the war on single-use plastic, and provide a more sustainable hand soap that would be accessible to everyone.”
The Sydney-based entrepreneur, who has a background in brand marketing, has invested her own money to build the company from the ground-up, without external funding.
The waste-free design concept for this brand includes foaming soap pods, formulated with plant-based, non-toxic ingredients and designed to dissolve in water.
Having packaging that aligned with the brand's values was a priority. Keeper Clean’s shipping boxes, pod boxes, instruction cards and tape are all compostable, or recyclable, although not yet certified as such. Bottles are made from glass, with a plastic closure.
“While we wouldn’t ordinarily promote the use of plastic, in this instance, we couldn’t find an eco-friendlier alternative at the time,” says Macqueen.
“The plastic in the closure is not single-use and is intended to be re-used for a long time, however, it could be recycled if all of the components were taken apart and the spring in the pump was disposed of correctly,” she adds.
Commenting on the challenges for a start-up to source packaging, Macqueen says, “With most eco-friendly options, they are the expensive option, so as a start-up business the real challenge for us was finding a supplier that could produce the boxes for us at a cost that would allow us to have pricing on our products that would make them accessible to everyone.
“After seeking out quotes from many Australian suppliers, we simply weren’t able to afford these options, but we weren’t willing to compromise and have our packaging made with virgin materials and toxic inks and glues. With this in mind, we decided to seek suppliers internationally. All our packaging is designed in Australia, and we then work with a high-quality manufacturer in China with quality management and fair-trade certifications.”
Macqueen says the company faced similar roadblocks when sourcing a manufacturer for the soap bottle.
“As a small business it was impossible to find a supplier in Australia to make a custom hand soap bottle at our low order quantities, so we decided to look offshore. After going through a rigorous process to find a high quality manufacturer that had the right quality management and fair-trade certifications, we landed on a supplier in China.”
As a next step, the business is looking into expanding its range of reusable products. An important step for Macqueen will be onshoring: “As the business grows, we also have goals in place to help us become more sustainable. For example, once our volumes are big enough, we want to bring our manufacturing on shore to Australia.”
