Get the knowledge: How to make better cleaning product choices 

Overall the EU’s regime to ensure ingredients used in all products are safe for human health and the environment, known as REACH, provides consumers some assurance. However, as ingredient lists do not have to be published on cleaning products (as they are for cosmetics), it is difficult to check. What does appear on product labels, however, are hazard warning signs.

Both the US and Canada regulate detergents through a combination of consumer product safety and hazardous substance control regulations.  (Also see foundation article on hazardous substances in consumer products). Other countries with legislation designed to protect people and the planet from unintended consequences of cleaning products include China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.

Many ingredients in cleaning products are made from petrochemicals – an arm of the fossil fuel sector. Petrochemicals are made from non-renewable oil and gas streams, and in 2018 the industry was responsible for 1.5 gigatonnes of CO2 emissions. 

Recently, however, manufacturers have switched to bio-based, renewable, feedstocks, such as palm oil, although this has implications for land use.  

Packaging and disposability

Like all consumer products, cleaning products make a major contribution to the world’s growing waste problem. Greenpeace estimates that plastic packaging from cleaning products created some 30,000 tonnes of waste in the UK alone during 2019.

There are a number of specific challenges here. Firstly, harsh chemicals and corrosive ingredients have to be contained in thicker, more robust plastic packaging, which is not always easily recyclable. Additionally, a lot of these containers are regarded as hazardous or toxic waste – even when empty – and if not disposed of properly by the consumer, can end up in landfill.  

Secondly, while cleaning products rely on the functionality of their chemical ingredients (the active ingredients), the majority of the liquid within any given container is actually water, which only adds to the packaging requirement. 

According to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, more than 90% of a typical bottle of cleaning product is  water. It estimated 20% or more of global disposable plastic packaging by weight would not be needed if only active ingredients were shipped. As such, concentrated and ‘dilute-it-yourself’-style cleaning products can make a big difference in this area.

Thirdly, convenience remains king when it comes to cleaning, so antibacterial wipes and disposable polishing cloths are a popular segment of the industry – more so in the wake of COVID-19. 

To preserve their structural integrity, these wipes (like facial and wet wipes) are often made with a blend of cotton and plastics such as polypropylene and polyester, which can eventually degrade into microplastics that contaminate rivers and oceans and poison wildlife. They are also a major cause of sewer blockages.  

Some retailers are taking action against disposable cleaning wipes, for example, in the UK supermarket chain Tesco has pledged to stop selling any wipes containing plastic by the end of 2022. The UK government, meanwhile, is considering rolling out strict new measures on wet wipes to help curb the single-use plastics problem.  

Wasted energy

The high water content of many cleaning products creates another problem – it makes transport very inefficient. Research from Unilever suggests that if cleaning products contained only their active ingredients (and were diluted at home by the consumer),  87% fewer trucks would be needed for transportation, resulting in fewer greenhouse gas emissions.  

Additionally, some cleaning products – such as laundry detergent and dishwasher tablets – have traditionally required a certain water temperature to work efficiently, leading to increased energy use.