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Long before ‘sustainability’ and ‘eco-friendly’ became household names, Ecover was founded in a small cottage in a rural town in Belgium by a team of highly motivated eco-pioneers. They had enough proof to show that phosphates, a common ingredient used in laundry and dishwasher products, were polluting our water systems. They cared so much they wanted to create a phosphate free washing powder. It was a real success that soon found its way to health food stores across Europe.
Ecover goes retail. While Michael Jackson was rocking the charts and shoulder pads were big, the eighties were tough years for Ecover. But at last in 1989 we made our first steps onto the supermarket shelves and became widely available to all of you.
1991-1992 were big years for Ecover. We began the decade with a new owner, a business man from Scandinavia called Sørensen, who had a huge impact on our business. This all coincided with the construction of our brand new eco factory, the first of its kind in the world, based in Malle, Belgium. On opening day the media jumped on it and we were featured on all major news networks – alongside Bill Clinton’s presidential victory.
We build our ecological factory in Malle, Belgium. Our vision of what clean manufacturing could be. With a living, green roof for insulation, eco-bricks made from recycled coal waste and sustainable wood instead of concrete and steel. It’s the place we’re still proud to call home today.
We thought it would be a good idea to launch a naturally-derived beer glass cleaner for pubs and bars. Needless to say it didn’t catch on.
The UN puts us in their Global 500 Roll of Honour for outstanding achievements in protecting and improving the environment. Another Environmental Stewardship Award follows in 1999 for our commitment to environmental manufacturing processes
As sponsors of Antwerp’s Laundry Day festival, we launch ‘Softens Your Clothes’, a tongue-in-cheek fabric softener campaign. We took the famous AC/DC logo, rewrote it as ABBA and stuck it on a tough hairy biker. Needless to say, the limited-edition t-shirts given out at the festival didn’t hang around for long.
We launch a daring ad campaign deliberately giving away our biodegradable formula. Challenging the competition to use it ‘for nature’s sake’ with one ad appearing directly outside a big corporate competitor company. The goal? To put environmental protection above every other consideration.
Time ® Magazine features us and then-CEO Mick Bremans as Eco Pioneers for their Hero of the Environment issue. Along with 30 other green trailblazers fighting to save the planet.
To help raise awareness around water usage, we partnered with WaterAid to launch an on-pack promotion and free water care pack, including a hippo water saver for toilets. We also helped fundraise for their many life-saving projects around the world.
Our scientists make a real discovery, creating a new eco-surfactant for our new range of hard surface cleaners. Using sugar fermentation instead of petroleum, these tough molecules deliver a powerful, naturally derived clean
We unleash our first 100% recyclable plastic bottles made from renewable sugarcane instead of petroleum. Nowadays, our bottles contain a mix of PlantPlastic® and post-consumer recycled plastic.
To highlight the harm of plastic waste in our oceans, we launch a limited-edition washing-up liquid in a specially designed Ocean Plastic bottle. The first of its kind, the 2014 bottle is made up of 10% of plastic recovered from the North Sea with the rest coming from post-consumer recycled plastic.
We launch our new palm oil-free ECOVER Laundry Fabric Softener. With the help of a softening agent derived from French rapeseed oil, we are able to remove palm oil from the formula. As a result, that year we cut our responsibly-sourced palm oil use by around 200 tons.
Our new sub-brand – ECOVER Essential – launches for the health food trade in mainland Europe. Featuring 100% naturally derived fragrances, the range is certified by ECOCERT, the rigorous standard for environmentally friendly products
Single-use, throwaway plastic culture has had its day. So we’ve given our plastic packaging a serious rethink. The result? Our brand new Washing Up Liquid bottle made from 100% post-consumer recycled, 100% recyclable plastic.
