Dow Chemical, Ecolab, SC Johnson, Seventh Generation and other American Cleaning Institute member companies reduced their greenhouse gas emissions 12 percent from 2010 to 2011, according to the ACI’s 2013 Sustainability Report.
The cleaning product industry’s second sustainability report shows overall decreases by member companies in four environmental metric data points: energy use, greenhouse gas emissions, water use and solid waste generation.
The following companies — representing 83 percent of ACI’s member dues base — submitted 2012 metrics data for the sustainability metrics program: AkzoNobel Surface Chemistry, Amway, Arylessence, BASF, Church & Dwight, Clorox, Colgate-Palmolive, Croda, Dow Chemical, DuPont Industrial Biosciences, Ecolab, Evonik Goldschmidt, FMC, Givaudan Fragrances, Henkel Consumer Goods, Huntsman, Novozymes, Procter & Gamble, PQ, Sasol, SC Johnson, Seventh Generation, Shell Chemical and Stepan.
To ensure year-to-year comparability in all data categories, only companies whose data spanned all three reporting years (2009, 2010 and 2011) are presented in the report.
Overall, 2011 showed a reduction in the industry’s footprint for all four environmental metrics compared to 2009. During this period, energy use decreased 9 percent, greenhouse gas emissions decreased 7 percent, water use decreased 5 percent and solid waste generation decreased 17 percent.
After the industry’s GHG emissions saw a 6 percent increase in 2010, compared to 2009, emissions dropped 12 percent from 2010 to 2011 (see chart). The average aggregated GHG footprint was 314 kg CO2e per metric ton of cleaning product production, the report says.
The report also shows improvement in the energy use profile per cleaning product produced. From 2009 to 2010 energy use saw a 6 percent decrease and from 2010 to 2011 this metric decreased 4 percent.
The report also highlights ACI’s partnerships with organizations such as Clean the World, which collects and recycles discarded soaps, shampoos, conditioners and other hygiene products from more than 1,200 participating hotels and hospitality partners — including Walt Disney World Resorts, Starwood Hotels and Resorts, Best Western International, Joie de Vivre Hotels and others — and distributes them to those in need.
From 2010 to 2011, ACI member company SC Johnson reduced its waste output by 2 percentage points, as the company aimed to reduce its solid waste by 70 percent of 2000 levels by 2016, according to the company's most recent sustainability report, published earlier this year. Since the baseline year, the maker of Glade, Pledge, Windex and Off! products has decreased its global manufacturing waste by 57 percent, according to its latest sustainability report.
