Unilever has unveiled a new laundry products brand in the UK, which will enable customers to avoid dashing to the supermarket and instead have detergent capsules delivered directly to their doors in 100 per cent recyclable packaging.

Described as an "eco-conscious, personalised laundry service for time-pressed shoppers", each Homey box costs £3.10 and contains 19 bio or non-bio laundry capsules, while offering customers the option to cancel, pause or change their subscriptions at any time, the consumer goods giant announced this week.

The new service would appear to mark a response to challenger brands such as Splosh, which specialises in delivering laundry, cleaning, and washing up products to customers' doors in pouches and sachets which can then be topped up with water and put in refillable bottles in order to cut down on waste.

Unilever said the Homey capsules would be delivered in "as little packaging as possible", using 100 per cent fully recyclable boxes made from 85 per cent recycled materials.

It also said it plans to expand Homey's offering in future beyond capsules "to become a complete and convenient port-of-call for all you cleaning and laundry needs".

Homey co-founder Mark Howard said the product was aimed at fitting into people's "increasingly hectic lives". "We want to make it easier to look after your home, so you can actually enjoy being there," he explained. "We are launching Homey to start this movement - offering the laundry solution of today, but with plans to tackle other everyday tasks in the future."

It follows an open letter from Unilever CEO Alan Jope earlier this week urging trade bodies around the world to support the "transformational changes" needed to tackle the climate crisis and reach a net zero emissions world by 2050.

The move is also part of a wider trend towards waste-saving delivery models, with Unilever and other leading brands also signed up to the recently launched Loop service, which aims to offer refillable packaging and co-ordinated deliveries of a wide range of household products.