Green goals
June 29th 2009 JohnsonDiversey says its goal is to practise sustainability throughout the company and to help its customers to do the same. It believes sustainability depends on delivering environmental excellence across the cleaning lifecycle from raw materials to lifetime costs
JohnsonDiversey eliminated CFCs from aerosol products many years before it became a legal requirement, and claims it has been dedicated to leadership in sustainable environmental awareness since it was founded in 1886. The company was a founder member of the Founded Marine Stewardship Council with the WWF, and it was also the first business-to-business chemical manufacturer awarded the A.I.S.E. Charter for Sustainable Cleaning. In 2008 the company joined the WWF’s Climate Savers programme which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
JohnsonDiversey says some, but not all, sustainability benefits of a cleaning product come from its formulation. For many suppliers the ingredients are the only aspect of sustainability that they emphasise, particularly if these are ‘naturally occurring’. However, not all natural materials are safe for humans or the environment. Moreover, we must be aware of the wider potential environmental impacts of using some natural materials, such as the use of fertilizers and pesticides (and possibly energy) to grow the crop, deforestation, loss of habitat and displacement of indigenous peoples. Some products based on natural materials may be less effective, requiring the use of high concentration or even neat inuse solutions, resulting in additional packaging and transportation impacts.
More concentration less milage
Concentrated formulations from JohnsonDiversey help reduce overall chemical miles and packaging. Water is added at the point of use rather than during manufacture which means proportionately more chemical is transported to the user. The amount of chemical miles and packaging is therefore reduced when taking into account the amount of product needed to prepare a solution for each cleaning task. The packaging is itself more sustainable if the materials used are recycled or recyclable. JohnsonDiversey believes concentrates deliver the best possible sustainability when used with controlled dosing systems that minimise wastage and ensure the optimum dilution for high performance cleaning.
Formulations are now available that enable high performance cleaning at lower temperatures. This is not only advantageous for the environment but saves money because less energy is required to heat water. Other aspects of formulation support sustainability.
Modern fabric care products, for example, now prolong the life of laundered items. This enhances the sustainability of fabrics made from natural or man-made materials, ensuring reduced longterm use of resources.
In some instances the most sustainable cleaning involves no chemicals at all. This reduces use of resources and lowers risk of contamination to cleaning staff and the public – perhaps most important in hospitals and care homes where occupants can be vulnerable. Cleaning tools based around ultra microfibre fabrics are suitable for cleaning hard surfaces without chemicals. The distinction between microfibre and ultra microfibre is important. Only fibres with a denier under 0.5 can be called ultra microfibre.
Denier measures of the number of fibres in a given amount of fabric and the lower it is the more surface area in the fabric which means better cleaning and infection removal performance.
Search for solutions
Sustainable cleaning can be a confusing issue but it need not be difficult to implement. Customers should assess all the available information and talk to potential suppliers to see what they have to say and what they offer. Those with a full range of products backed up with technical support, industry knowledge and a good track record will be best placed to provide effective solutions.
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