Green - it’s a big subject. And there are so many ways of looking at it. JohnsonDiversey partners with its customers to develop sustainable solutions with long term cost savings, performance improvements and environmental benefits.

The company’s goal is to practise sustainability across its business and help customers do the same in theirs. The result is sustainably lower levels of raw materials, packaging, waste and energy consumption with reduced lifetime costs. These, and additional factors such as design and ergonomics, are important for cleaning machines and tools. For chemical cleaning products it often comes down to format and formulation. Many suppliers take a simplistic view of sustainability and emphasise ingredients, 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 fertilisers 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 in-use solutions, resulting in additional packaging and transportation impacts.

Concentrated formulations from JohnsonDiversey 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. 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 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 long-term use of resources.

In some instances the most sustainable cleaning involves no chemicals whatsoever. 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 such as the Jonmaster system are ideal 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 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.

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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For more information visit: www.johnsondiversey.co.uk