Cleaning Hygiene Today Cleaning Hygiene Magazine
By Nick Winstone, Co-Founder & MD of Biovate Hygienics
Sustainable cleaning plays a major role in supporting a company’s overall sustainability goals. It creates a good brand image for your company, slashes energy costs, promotes green procurement as well as care for the planet and its people.
According to a 2021 consumer intelligence survey report by PwC, 76 per cent of consumers are likely to stop buying from a brand that doesn’t practice sustainability. From the same report 84 per cent of employees prefer to work for a company that cares for the environment.¹
One of the ways a facilities management team can boost sustainability efforts is to adopt a green cleaning strategy. Unfortunately, using traditional cleaning chemicals poses a health risk, whilst sustainable cleaning products will take greater care of your employees and the environment. The best way to clean green is to use a cleaning product that will biodegrade completely within a short time frame, within 28 days.
The way the products are packaged is also really important to think about. For commercial cleaning products these should be as concentrated as possible. For example, a multi-purpose 1.5 litre pouch uses 90 percent less plastic than a jerry can and makes 275 spray bottles, massively reducing the carbon footprint and plastic waste generated.
Recyclable components
Fitting products with trigger heads that are made from 33 per cent PCR plastic with no metal parts, and are fully recyclable, as some of our products are, also helps with sustainability. Their use stops 7.5 tonnes of virgin plastic from entering the supply chain, with CO2 emissions reduced by 13 per cent and wastewater by 17 per cent. Responsible sourcing of cardboard packaging also reduces our CO2 emissions by 25 per cent.
Another important factor to consider is the impact a product has on the user. Basically a green cleaning product should not be classified as an irritant to skin or corrosive in its diluted state.
Sustainability high on the agenda
Sustainability is high up the agenda for businesses across most sectors, with environmental impact becoming a major driver in procurement decisions. This is sure to accelerate in a post pandemic world. In the liquid product cleaning industry, this is reflected in demand from customers and their distributors for chemical-free and plastic-free cleaning products. They are mindful of the fact most commercial cleaning products are in a ready-to-use format, increasing plastic waste and carbon footprints. Others contain traditional chemical actives which are unkind to the environment, while inhaling some chemical cleaning products is simply unhealthy, especially for cleaners using the products all day.
We’re on a mission to establish our company as the UK’s go-to sustainable brand offering a carbon neutral range of liquid cleaning products that will change the way Britain cleans. We’re looking to ensure that all our products are carbon neutral and sustainable inside the packaging, the way they’re packaged, the way they’re produced and the way they’re transported and stored.
All our products are designed with these goals in mind – and we like to think we’re leading by example, setting standards for the rest of the sustainable cleaning industry to follow.
