Innovation

The founders of Dizolve Group Corporation started with a passion to create a biodegradable, compact, and dissolvable laundry strip that could replace liquid detergent. Most traditional laundry detergents are made in liquid form and are stored and sold in large plastic jugs. Dizolve has pursued and successfully created a laundry strip that is made to dissolve once put in a laundry washer. The strip replaces a liquid detergent and is easy to use, simply throw one in with your clothing. The dissolvable strips are biodegradable and forgo the use of harsh chemicals that can be harmful to humans and the environment such as phosphates, dioxane, and bleach. Liquid laundry detergent is typically sold in large jugs made of plastic which builds up in landfills and the size of the traditional plastic jug makes their transportation more costly and requires significant energy to ship, furthering carbon emissions in the atmosphere. Dizolve’s laundry strips are the size of a small strip of paper and allow them to be put in small packaging that assists in limiting plastic waste in landfills. The packages are then able to be transported in larger quantities than jugs of detergent allowing for less costly transportation and because of the size of the package, it is far easier for customers to carry than heavy jugs.

Dizolve’s passion to create a sustainable laundry strip echoes its commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals, Climate Action (13), Good Health (3), and Clean Water and Sanitation (6). Dizolve believes they should “treat their customers as they would treat themselves” and their commitment to integrity and honesty are embedded in their manufacturing process and environmental focus. Dizolve’s laundry strips are “helping the planet one wash load at a time.”

Inspiration

The inspiration for the business and its product occurred back in 2009 when the founders of the company, and former owners, traveled overseas to China. On this trip, they visited various manufactures and were exposed to brilliant innovations and product ideas. Inspired by their trip, the team returned to Canada with the vision and unique opportunity to research and develop a dissolvable laundry strip of their own. The inventors of the Dizolve cleaning strip wanted to create an environmentally friendly, sustainable, and lower carbon footprint product in comparison to the liquid detergent alternatives.

After seeing the interesting innovations and ideas in China the Dizolve team began to research how and why they should develop their own biodegradable cleaning strip. From experience, the team witnessed how wasteful detergent alternatives such as liquid and powder products can be, and this is truly what they wanted to change. When using these products consumers have to measure proportions themselves and end up using too much or too little which can be messy, require additional unnecessary wash cycles, and is ultimately inconvenient. Aside from consumption, the traditional forms of detergent are packaged in large, bulky, plastic jugs which create increased costs and a high carbon footprint during the shipping and storage phases of the supply chain just to end up in a landfill. The Dizolve team realized by creating a dissolvable laundry strip they could help the environment by lowering the carbon footprint during shipping and handling, save on supply chain costs, create eco-friendly packaging, and market to consumers the product’s ease of use and benefit to the planet.

Overall impact

Dizolve worked on their laundry strips to pass multiple different claims. First, was the biodegradability assessment which is used to test the product for any chemicals that are harmful to the environment and would not be able to break down the product. The laundry strips passed the OCED protocols making Dizolve a biodegradable product. Dizolve also passed the test for being Vegan, and cruelty-free. “The Dizolve laundry strips we make in a year will reduce landfill waste by the equivalent of 3,500,000 jugs of liquid detergent!” - Dizolve.

This product has made a huge impact since launching, but even more, starting when they became the manufacturer for Tru Earth, in just 16 months Dizolve went from manufacturing 500,000 loads a week to 5,000,000 in 2021. Michel Robichaud the Chief Innovation Officer and Marc Aucoin VP of Marketing and Sales mentioned that “Because Tru Earth had experience in magazines and social media” they were able to turn this product into a success.

Both Michel Robichaud and Marc Aucoin and sales agreed that Dizolve has made a huge impact on the environment by getting consumers to switch to an eco-friendly option for washing clothes. The company plans to continue producing laundry strips, along with working on an eco-friendly sanitary spray.

Business benefit

It is clear that Dizolve’s innovation of the laundry strips has many benefits to the business and the culture of the business. Michel and Marc both expressed how amazing the environment and culture of the business were, noting that every employee is fully engaged, and there are “layers upon layers of people that are involved in this effort”. This foundation of engagement and passion in order to help towards saving the environment is a big benefit to the business. Just a year and a half ago they had four employees, and now they have over 70, Michel and Marc are both pleased that they have been able to provide more jobs to the city of Moncton. The compassion, motivation, and inspiration of all these employees has brought a major benefit to the business because employees are excited to see the amazing opportunities to come with this unique idea that has proved itself to be very successful.

Social and environmental benefit

Dizolve’s laundry strips have many benefits to the environment. Given that Dizolve has put an immense amount of focus on claims that are reputable, they have achieved various claims as mentioned above. Looking into the future Dizolve is hoping to be a part of the ‘Roundtable on sustainable palm oil’ (RSPO). All of these claims would have a significant benefit to the environment as they would ultimately reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, reduce the use of pesticides, and better waste management. The company has already seen benefits to the environment because when comparing Dizolve’s laundry strips to other liquid detergents, you save “94% in greenhouse gases” by transporting the strips compared to the liquid detergent.

Interviews

Michel Robichaud, Chief Innovation Officer

Marc Aucoin, Head of Marketing and Sales