Sherwin-Williams, Mondi Bring Pouches to Paint Shelves

Anyone who goes to the paint or hardware store is familiar with the traditional cans or tubs of paint. It is how paint has been sold in our lifetimes.

If a recent development from Sherwin-Williams and Mondi, a packaging industry leader, catches on, we may be seeing pouches on the paint store shelves in the near future.

In conjunction with Sherwin-Williams, Mondi recently introduced the re/cycle SpoutedPouch as a refill option for paint concentrates to the UK market, complete with a wider spout on the 950ml package for easier filling and pouring. The polyethylene mono-material pouch protects its contents. In addition, a paint concentrate was formulated to replace the traditional 5-liter pre-mixed paint, which was previously sold in rigid plastic tubs.

Gary Knight, regional sales at Mondi, said that the two companies have been collaborating for years.

“We’ve been working together with Sherwin Williams for several years, introducing the first version of paint in a Mondi mono-material pouch packaging in 2022,” Knight said. “The recent version, paint concentrate in our Mondi re/cycle SpoutedPouch, has been on shelves since February 2025.

“The Sherwin-Wiliams team played an important and active role to bring this to the market,” Knight added. “To successfully launch this application, we combined Sherwin-Williams’ active steps towards innovation and our expertise in sustainable packaging and pouches.”

Christina Rowe, head of product marketing at Sherwin-Williams, noted that there are advantages to using a pouch rather than a traditional can or tub of paint. Rowe observed that the pouches are designed to use up to 90% less plastic compared to the regular 5L buckets, and the reduction in size and weight compared to a 5L bucket will help to streamline transportation and distribution.

“One concentrate pouch of 950ml makes five liters of paint, which means it takes up around a fifth of the size on retailers’ shelves and weighs approximately 1kg, compared to 5.3kg for the 5L premixed option,” Rowe said. “This reduction in size and weight allows for a 230% increase in units per pallet, boosting supply chain efficiencies. The pouch design will also help to make refilling retail shelving easier as pouches will be delivered in shelf-ready tear-front boxes of five units.”

Rowe noted that the 5L paint size is available across the majority of Ronseal products.

“It is already a popular option for home DIY projects,” added Rowe. “The concentrate option is designed for use by both trade and consumers due to its simple application, offering an estimated paint coverage of 30 square meters.”

Rowe pointed out that the concentrate is designed for convenient use.

“Consumers simply pour the concentrate into a bucket, fill the pouch with water, reseal, shake and pour into the bucket,” said Rowe. “Mix well before repeating three more times; once stirred until combined, your paint is ready to use. Each pouch has instructions displayed on the back in three easy steps, alongside a QR code that leads to a step-by-step tutorial.”

Knight said that one of the biggest challenges was to develop a mono-material packaging that is designed for recycling while providing high-quality product protection.

“The overall trend from rigid to plastic is still ongoing and present as ever, for companies and consumers alike, which is also enhanced by current regulations within the EU. Finding this balance and putting together the best of both worlds, sustainability and product protection, was one of the biggest challenges,” said Knight. “While developing the spout for the paint packaging, we also adjusted the spout size, enabling a convenient and quick filling process by using a wider spout than for our various other SpoutedPouch applications.”

Rowe reported that retailers and consumers alike are happy with the pouches.

“Retailers have fed back that this product will help them to achieve their own sustainability goals, particularly in relation to reducing packaging,” she noted. “We also understand that this move allows our customers (retailers) to save valuable space within their stores and save the time of their store colleagues when replenishing stock, due to the nature of the tear-front direct-to-display packaging of the pouches.

“From a consumer perspective, it’s still early days in terms of reviews given that we’ve only just launched, but our research with consumers is a big part of what led us to this innovation,” Rowe added. “We are confident this is going to be a convenient solution for end-users throughout the purchase journey.”

Roe noted that pouches may become more common in the future.

“Traditional tins and buckets of paint are typically bulky and can take up valuable space in people’s homes,” said Rowe. “Opting for a refillable concentrate instead is a no-brainer, making transportation and storage simpler and more efficient. Introducing the pouch option to more Ronseals products is certainly something we’d like to offer in the future. We are always striving to innovate across all the products and categories that we operate in, with the purpose of finding solutions that improve the journey for both our customers and the end users.”