Ariel (detergent) Automatic" powder. Though with the increasing popularity of automatic front-loading washing machines, a suitable low-suds variant "Ariel Automatic" was eventually launched in the early 1980s. The mid-eighties saw the range expanding to encompass liquid detergent and compact powder. The compact powder was originally known as "Ariel Ultra"; and was subsequently reformulated into the nineties as "Ariel Future". This was possibly in response to Unilever's launch of the ultimately doomed "Persil Power", which was seen to damage clothes. Compact powders never proved popular in the UK, so when the tablet variant appeared in July 1999, the compact version disappeared. In 2003,
Phosphates in detergent European Parliament had ordered a ban of phosphates in consumer laundry detergent by June 2013 and a ban in dishwasher detergent by January 2017. Australia began phasing out the use of phosphates in its detergents in 2011, with an all-out ban expected to take effect in 2014. Canada banned some phosphates in detergent in 2011. Italy started phasing out phosphates in the 1980s. Pursuant to findings published in 2006 by the Shenkar College of Engineering and Design indicating that liquid detergents are "much more environment-friendly" than powdered detergents, Israel's Ministry of the Environment began recommending that consumers prefer liquid detergent