Refillable, Recycled, Recyclable: How Our Deodorant Packaging Cuts Plastic Waste

Salt of the Earth is a family-run natural deodorant company. We make sprays, roll-ons, sticks and balms in our own factory in Chandlers Ford, Hampshire, and we have been developing refillable deodorant packaging since 2013. Our refill programme has avoided an estimated 23.66 tonnes of plastic so far, the equivalent of more than 2.3 million bottles.

That headline number is nice, but it only exists because of lots of smaller, less glamorous decisions about bottles, pouches, jars and card. This post is a tour of what our packaging is actually made from, format by format, and what happens to it afterwards.

What is sustainable deodorant packaging?

For us it comes down to three things: help customers reuse packaging rather than bin it, cut the amount of plastic needed in the first place through refills, and use recycled material wherever possible. Every format in our range applies at least one of those principles, and most apply two. Our COSMOS Natural certification from the Soil Association also sets requirements for packaging, not just ingredients, so the materials we choose are assessed as part of that standard.

What is Prevented Ocean Plastic?

Prevented Ocean Plastic is recycled plastic collected within 50km of a coastline or major waterway, in regions without proper waste management, and it is fully traceable back to the collection centre. The point is to catch plastic before it reaches the sea, because plastic that has already spent time in the ocean degrades quickly and is largely unusable for recycling.

Since 2024, our natural deodorant sprays have come in bottles made from 100% Prevented Ocean Plastic (the cap, pump and label are excluded from that figure). So the bottle of our Ocean & Coconut Natural Deodorant Spray has quite possibly already had one seaside holiday before it reaches your bathroom.

Once you have a bottle, you can keep it going with a 500ml spray refill bottle, which refills it up to five times using approximately 70% less plastic by weight, or a 300ml refill pouch, which refills it up to three times with approximately 85% less plastic by weight than buying three new bottles.

How does our refillable roll-on bottle cut plastic?

Our refillable roll-on system launched in 2022 after 18 months of design work. The bottle is designed to be opened, refilled and reused rather than thrown away, which is harder to engineer than it sounds when the product also has to roll smoothly and not leak in a gym bag.

Start with a refillable roll-on such as our Lavender & Vanilla Refillable Roll-On, then top it up with a 225ml pouch (up to three refills, approximately 85% less plastic by weight) or a 525ml refill bottle (up to seven refills, approximately 80% less plastic).

What is post-consumer recycled (PCR) plastic?

Post-consumer recycled plastic is material that has already been used by consumers, collected, and reprocessed into new packaging. The body of our refillable deodorant stick is made with 50% PCR plastic, which halves the virgin plastic needed for that component compared with making it entirely from new plastic.

The stick has been refillable since 2021. Keep the body of a stick like our Vetiver & Citrus Natural Deodorant Stick, and when it runs out, slot in a card-packaged stick refill. The refill packaging is made from FSC certified cardboard, so the only plastic component is the one you keep.

Can you recycle deodorant balm packaging?

Yes, easily. Our deodorant balms, launched in 2020, come in a glass jar with an aluminium lid and a grass paper label. Glass and aluminium are widely collected in UK kerbside recycling and, unlike plastic, they can be recycled repeatedly without losing quality. Balms are not refillable, so recyclable-by-design packaging was the right approach for this format.

Try the Lavender & Vanilla Natural Deodorant Balm if you fancy a completely plastic-free option in your washbag.

How much plastic do refills actually save?

Across the refill programme as a whole, we estimate 23.66 tonnes of plastic avoided, equivalent to more than 2.3 million bottles. At product level, the savings come from a simple principle: a flexible pouch or a large shared bottle uses far less plastic per millilitre of deodorant than lots of individual bottles. Depending on the format and refill size, that works out at approximately 70% to 85% less plastic by weight than buying the equivalent number of new bottles. If you want the mechanics of how refilling works day to day, we have covered that in detail in our guide to how refillable deodorant works.

Where is our packaging filled and our deodorant made?

Most of our products are made in our own factory in Chandlers Ford, Hampshire (the exception is our crystal range, which is made in China). Making deodorant here keeps quality control in-house and avoids the transport emissions of importing finished goods. The factory roof now carries 126 solar panels, installed in April 2026 and forecast to supply around 45% of our on-site electricity across the year, with the array sized to generate more than the factory uses and the surplus exported to the grid. There is a full, honest breakdown of the numbers in our post about the solar panels on our factory roof.

This work is part of why we received the King's Award for Enterprise for Sustainable Development in 2026, following independent assessment. You can read more about that in our post on our second King's Award, and more about who we are in Who Owns Salt of the Earth.

Frequently asked questions

Can you recycle plastic deodorant containers?

It depends on the container. Our spray and roll-on bottles are rigid plastic and widely accepted in UK kerbside recycling, but the better option is not to recycle them at all: refill and reuse them instead. Refill pouches use far less plastic than bottles but are flexible plastic, so check your local authority's rules for soft plastics.

Is refillable or recyclable packaging better?

Reuse generally beats recycling, because recycling still uses energy and plastic degrades each time it is reprocessed. That is why our sprays, roll-ons and sticks are refillable, while formats that cannot be refilled, like our balms, use glass and aluminium that recycle repeatedly without quality loss.

Are Salt of the Earth deodorants plastic free?

Our balms are plastic free, packaged in glass and aluminium. Our sprays, roll-ons and sticks do use plastic, but it is either recycled (Prevented Ocean Plastic bottles, 50% post-consumer recycled stick bodies) or dramatically reduced through refills, and often both.

Got a question we have not answered, or an idea for cutting packaging further? Tell us. Some of our best improvements started as customer suggestions.