US cleaners demand unified green standards

Bubbling confusion

20 June 2008 16:55  [Source: ICB]

The US cleaning industry is looking for more guidance as green marketing claims - and the controversy over what constitutes "green" - continue to rise

Doris de Guzman/New York

SESAME STREET's Kermit the Frog may not have been talking about the environment when he sang "It's Not Easy Being Green," but the US cleaning industry might be thinking the same thing, as pressure mounts to go green.

Amid flat overall household cleaning sales last year, US sales of green laundry detergent products rose by 66%, and green household cleaners 28%, according to US market data provider Information Resources Inc. (IRI). The green cleaning market is still small, at less than 2% of the total market in both categories, it says.

"There are still relatively few green, sustainable or ethical household cleaning brands that are significant enough in mass-market outlets, but as a collective presence, they are clearly a growing force, largely due to the spread of a green culture," reported consumer goods US market researcher Packaged Facts in its US Household Cleaning Products study in February.

While demand for green cleaning products is rising, there is also growing consumer skepticism about green claims.

"Pop into any supermarket today and you can't fail to be struck by the number of labels making claims about the social and environmental attributes of a range of different products. For consumers, this can be confusing," says Ryan Schuchard, associate, environmental research and development at California-based nonprofit association Business for Social Responsibility.

Packaged Facts notes that a study conducted in the spring of last year reported seven out of 10 Americans "strongly" or "somewhat" agree that green claims are usually just a marketing tactic.

"This study was not household cleaning-product specific, but it does indicate that marketers in general need to be careful in their messaging," said the firm.

A major factor driving consumer skepticism and confusion about green labeling is the inconsistent definition of green, says Bruce Boynick, industry manager for New Jersey-based business process consultant Kline & Company's Industrial & Institutional Cleaners practice.

"There is not a Good Housekeeping seal of approval or an Underwriters Laboratories' seal to assure that a product is green," he says. "Green labels exist but are not codified, and they lack uniform government standards."

Kline estimates that truly green cleaners in the US account for just 2-5% of the $17.5bn (€11.3bn) in cleaning products sold for household, janitorial, food service and laundry applications.

THE STAMP OF SAFETY?

Product manufacturers are resorting to certification and seals in order to get a slice of the green cleaning market, as well as assure consumers of their green intentions.

TerraChoice Environmental Marketing's EcoLogo program, founded in 1988, is said to be North America's oldest and most widely recognized standard and certification program, says Scot Case vice president of Philadelphia-based environmental marketing agency TerraChoice.

"Environmental standards are clearly becoming more commonplace, partly because many larger purchasers, such as government facilities, schools, hospitals, other institutions, and large retailers are demanding them as proof of environmental leadership," he adds.

Nonprofit certification firm NSF International, based in Michigan, provides third-party reviews of cleaning ingredients listed in the online CleanGredients database and for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Design for the Environment (DfE) Formulator program.

CleanGredients, developed by the nonprofit GreenBlue Institute, in Virginia, and the EPA, aims to provide a one-stop shop for cleaning products formulators looking for safer chemical ingredients, says chemist Teresa McGrath of NSF's Toxicology Department, Green Chemistry Programs.

"CleanGredients contains surfactants and solvents but will be adding chelators and fragrances in the next few months, to have all relevant cleaning product ingredient classes available online," McGrath says. The DfE program, meanwhile, recognizes products that are proven to be safer than other commercially available, similar-use products through the use of the DfE logo.

"DfE requires the review of each ingredient in the product by a qualified third party to ensure that the ingredient is among the safest in its class," notes McGrath.

"Interest in DfE from the industrial and institutional cleaning market continues to grow. A big driver is increasing environmentally preferable purchasing programs at the state and local government levels, which require cleaning products used in government-owned buildings to meet environmental and human health criteria," McGrath adds.

Other noted green cleaning standards include Green Seal, certification from the Georgia-based nonprofit GreenGuard Environmental Institute, and for-profit McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry, in Virginia.

Certification does not mean, however, that a product is green, says Gretchen Schaefer, vice president of communications for trade group the Consumer Specialty Products Association (CSPA), based in Washington, D.C. "Each certification has a different interpretation. The certified product only meets the criteria of the certifying organization," Schaefer says.

QUEST FOR THE GREEN GRAIL

Schaefer says consumers must also weigh factors such as product efficacy, ease of use, availability and cost. "Consumers should be aware that green can mean many things. It should not be assumed that a green product is safer than a nongreen product," she adds.

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC), says the CSPA, plans to revise its Environmental Marketing Claims guidelines due to growing concerns over green marketing. "Some environmental seals of approval, eco-seals, and certifications provide value in the marketplace. However, given the lack of a single authoritative certification, it is critical that the FTC updates its Green Guides to help eliminate confusion in the marketplace," says Schaefer.

The Soap and Detergent Association (SDA) also voiced its concerns to the FTC, including the proliferation of certifications and seals on product labels.

"We are particularly concerned with seals or logos that communicate a general claim of environmental preferability, with no means for the consumer to learn the environmental benefits that form the basis for that claim," says Michelle Radecki, general counsel and secretary for the trade body, based in Washington, D.C.

For cleaning product manufacturers, the major challenge is not only to prove that their ingredients are green but that they perform as well as traditional cleaning products.

"Marketing a chemistry that is truly green and performs as well as traditional products has been an elusive proposition so far," says Boynick. "While naturally derived products may have environmental and personal appeal, if they do not clean and sanitize as effectively and efficiently as the conventional cleaning products, consumers and commercial users will be reluctant to continue their use."

THE GREEN COMPACT

Searching for effective green cleaning ingredients might be tough, but manufacturers are finding other ways to profit from the green trend, mostly via packaging.

Laundry detergent is one area in which packaging changes have been highly visible, according to Information Resources Inc. (IRI). "With Procter & Gamble [P&G] and Unilever [two large consumer product firms] leading the charge, concentrated laundry detergents in significantly smaller packages now comprise 11% of the market versus 2% last year," IRI reports.

Wal-Mart, which makes 25% of the US liquid laundry detergent sales, said last month that it had completed its goal of selling only concentrated liquid laundry detergent in all of its US and Canadian stores.

"Wal-Mart worked with each of its leading detergent manufacturers to bring concentrated versions of brand favorites to market that includes P&G, Unilever, Dial, Huish and Church & Dwight," says Matt Kistler, Wal-Mart's senior vice president of sustainability. "Through the commitment, Wal-Mart expects to sell more than 800m units of concentrated detergent over the next three years."

IRI expects the household cleaning products market to soon follow suit.

Visit Doris de Guzman's green chemistry blog

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