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.

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.

Our hard work paid off when the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) recognized us on their Global 500 Roll of Honour list, which awards people, groups and companies who make major contributions to the environment. Ecover was the first and only household cleaning brand to win this fabulous recognition. Joining us on the list are well-known names like Robert Redford, Sir David Attenborough, Greenpeace and the National Geographic Society.

Offices open in the USA, the nation of nations

Marks the year when we successfully launched our automatic dishwasher tablets… sparkling dishes, no phosphates.

We proudly earned ISO 14001 certification, the “quality assurance system” each ecological company should have.

Pioneers often go against what’s conventional and that’s exactly what we did when we launched a revolutionary packaging concept … while the market was all about screaming colours (and still is) we decided to do the opposite… transparent bottles and labels. They gave us a lot of stand out at the time and attracted the attention of a much broader audience. And we assume the market liked it too as the style has been copied many times now. In that same year we launched a campaign in London… called “steal our formula “. The goal was to stimulate our ‘conventional’ colleagues to take ecological criteria into consideration when developing their products

We revisited our roots and along with lots of new research done by our scientists and input from you, we relaunched our laundry range. Without deviating from our core of sustainability, we saw a shift to embracing power and efficiency, through constant innovation and discovery.

We reached our production capacity (thank you!) and needed a new factory to make sure we could continue to grow. We chose Boulogne-sur-Mer, France as the perfect home for this. As we had the benefit of learning from our experiences building the Belgian factory, this one was built state of the art. Our doors are always open for visitors!

It’s about time… when Time Magazine picked us and our CEO as Eco Pioneers for their Hero of the Environment issue. We were part of a group of 30 Heroes who continue to change the world! For a closer look visit Time.com. Less is more. Ecover launches a new refill box to replace the containers previously used as part of its refill system. Less waste (39% decrease in plastics!), a compact size and easy to recycle and much easier to handle when you’re cleaning the house.

We launched a new range of Hard Surface Cleaners with our revolutionary Eco Surfactants, developed by our very own scientists. These tiny molecules make cleaning products work, giving them their power and doing all the hard work for you. And even though we always use plant based ingredients, we made a real breakthrough in developing these tough little workers, using a completely natural fermentation process to bring us even closer to nature. And above all, tests show that they clean as well as conventional cleaners!

Hooray … the hard work paid off when our Eco Surfactants received the nomination for the European Business Awards for the Environment in the Process Category Surfactants. They were really impressed with the way we push the innovation boundaries beyond the limits.

The newest edition to the Ecover family is our wonderful green bottle, made from plastic derived from sugarcane. So, no more excuse for using petroleum based plastic for our transparent bottles. And typical for us, we’re the first in our industry to make this change. Just another step towards giving back to Nature.