NATHAN SELL, KRISTIN DINICOLANTONIO
American Cleaning Institute, Washington, DC, USA

Abstract

The American Cleaning Institute (ACI) serves the growth and innovation of the U.S. cleaning products industry by advancing the health and quality of life of people and protecting our planet. With a continued commitment to sustainability, its experts have developed guidance and associated roadmaps on key raw materials used in the cleaning product supply chain to increase the number of products on the market that use more sustainable ingredients.

These roadmaps are developed by: (1) Identifying relevant feedstocks, risks and sustainability opportunities across cleaning ingredient portfolios; (2) Increasing the use of more sustainable feedstocks and feedstocks created with more sustainable production practices across cleaning ingredient portfolios; and (3) Collaborating across the cleaning products value chain to drive increased transparency, availability and adoption of more sustainable feedstocks.

The Sustainable Feedstocks Initiative
The American Cleaning Institute developed a new initiative to define and drive the use of more sustainable feedstocks in cleaning product ingredients and products throughout the industry. The Sustainable Feedstocks Initiative is aimed at creating a definition of sustainable feedstocks and developing guidance to increase the number of cleaning products on the market that use more sustainable ingredients.

The Initiative aims to understand current risks and trends within common cleaning ingredient feedstocks, selecting relevant feedstocks and developing roadmaps with clear goals that can be met in a three-to-five-year timeframe. The Initiative is being rolled out at a time when the cleaning product industry is looking to better understand the impacts of cleaning product ingredients and make sustainable choices to help meet a variety of sustainability goals.

Nine of the most common raw materials in cleaning products and cleaning product ingredients were selected as the focus of this initiative. They include petroleum, palm oil, coconut oil, sodium chloride, ammonia, hydrogen, ...