Blueland teams up with NYC for a first-of-its-kind bill to ban detergent and laundry pods

08 Feb Blueland teams up with NYC for a first-of-its-kind bill to ban detergent and laundry pods

Each year, more than 20 billion laundry and dishwasher pods are used in American households.

And home cleaning products maker Blueland wants them banned.

Today, legislation introduced in New York City would make it unlawful for the sale or distribution of any laundry or dishwasher detergent pods, as well as laundry sheets, that contain polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), which is a synthetic, petroleum-based plastic film. The bill would be the first of its kind in the nation and would levy fines of $400 for a first violation and increase by $400 for every subsequent infraction.

Marketed as the “Pods are Plastic” bill, the legislation is supported by Blueland and has been introduced by New York City Council Member James F. Gennaro, chair of the New York City Council’s Committee on Environmental Protection, Resiliency and Waterfronts. If approved, the bill would take effect on January 1, 2026.

“Companies should not be allowed to put microplastics into products that are designed to go down our drains into our water,” Sarah Paiji Yoo, cofounder and CEO of Blueland, told Fast Company.

Research by the National Library of Medicine, commissioned by Blueland, shows that more than 75% of intact plastic particles from laundry and dishwasher pods can be released into waterways, including oceans and rivers, as well as soil.

Blueland sells hand soaps, spray cleaners, and other household cleaning and personal care products, including refill tablets or powder formulas that can be combined with household tap water. The company’s bid to help eliminate single-use plastic packaging has resulted in over one billion plastic bottles diverted from landfills and oceans.

Yoo says that nearly five years ago, Blueland was researching laundry formats as the brand explored new category expansion. Initially, Blueland was focused on solutions to eliminate the need for large, plastic detergent jugs. But Yoo quickly honed in on the PVA-wrapped pods, which are billed as a cleaning solution that dissolves in the wash.

“It did bother us that this whole industry was built on consumers not realizing that this material was plastic,” says Yoo.

Cynically, Blueland’s advocacy against pods would come at the expense of larger, well-established brands that have popularized detergent pods in recent years. When asked how she would address skeptics, Yoo points to the company’s mission, which is a focus on ending single-use packaging. She says if consumers don’t care, businesses and governments won’t change and make more sustainably minded decisions.

“We’ve always been very mindful about how else can we use our business as a force for good, and how do we set a higher standard for our industry?” asks Yoo. “I think we’re as much focused on how we inspire other cleaning products companies to also take the path we’re doing.”

Nectar of the pods

Plastics are an environmental problem because they pollute waterways, harm marine life, and are increasingly found in the food and water humans consume. By 2050, the oceans may contain more tons of plastic than fish, according to environmental nonprofit World Wildlife Fund. One study published last month found that bottled water sold in stores had thousands of nanoplastics.

“Pods offer a real convenience, which many consumers want, but we need to make sure that we’re not introducing additional problems by just increasing our convenience,” says Lisa M. Erdle, PhD, director of science and innovation at The 5 Gyres Institute, a nonprofit that seeks to reduce plastics pollution.

The proposed ban on laundry and dishwasher pods in New York City is perhaps most similar to the Microbead-Free Waters Act of 2015, a federal law that banned cosmetics that featured plastic microbeads. New York City, meanwhile, often acts as a leader for enacting environmental regulations. In recent years, the city’s plastic-focused bans included legislation that aims to limit the use of plastic straws and fees for plastic bags.

Yoo says Blueland will start with advocacy in New York City but has larger aspirations to get consumers to switch back to liquid and powder alternatives for their laundry and dishwashing needs.

“I recognize that sometimes in the sustainability space we are asking consumers to make a trade-off,” says Yoo. “There’s many other alternatives to the pod.”

The American Cleaning Institute, which is backed by cleaning products makers and large chemicals companies, disagrees with calls to limit laundry and dishwasher pods. The advocacy group asserts that the packets are safe for use, result in less water usage than traditional detergent methods, and that the encasing is “designed to dissolve completely in washing and dishwashing machines and then flow down the drain with the wash water.”

However, Erdle points to one study that shows wastewater treatment plants can release around seven million microplastics per day, even after processing and treatment efforts where most of the microplastics are removed. Wastewater is very contaminated, predominantly from clothing microfibers when it is washed, but also from polymers like PVA that are going down the drain.

“If we already use pods, there needs to be real certainty that these are actually water soluble in realistic conditions in how people are using them,” says Erdle. “We [have to] rely on real vetting and testing to make sure that these items are actually breaking down and aren’t mixed with traditional fossil fuel-based plastics that we know are persistent in the environment and don’t degrade and ultimately cause harm.”

In 2022, Blueland petitioned the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to regulate detergent and dishwasher pods. The company is also a supporter of the New York Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act, which would require companies with income of $1 million or more to reduce their packaging by 50% in 12 years. Yoo says that while businesses and government are the largest levers to pull to create environmentally friendly changes, consumers have a role to play, too.

“The products that we make and sell are a small piece of the impact,” says Yoo. “It’s still really important to inspire, educate, and empower individuals to make more sustainable choices.”

Source: Fast Company