Twenty-five member companies of the American Cleaning Institute (ACI) completed the requirements for the first year of ACI’s Charter for Sustainable Cleaning, a voluntary initiative of the cleaning products industry to promote and demonstrate continual improvement in the industry’s sustainability profile.
 
The announcement was made during ACI’s 2015 Annual Meeting & Industry Convention in Orlando, Florida.
 
“With the ACI Charter for Sustainable Cleaning, we want to create a credible, industry-wide initiative for continual assessment, review, and improvement of sustainability performance at major stages of the product lifecycle,” said Brian Sansoni, ACI Vice President of Sustainability Initiatives.
 
Companies who sign-up for the Charter must formally commit to the ACI Principles for Sustainability, must participate in ACI’s Sustainability Metrics Program, and work toward implementing a set of Essential Sustainability Procedures and Activities (SPAs).

“Charter participants must commit to having systems in place for continual assessment, review, and improvement of sustainability performance at every important stage of the product lifecycle,” said Melissa Bernardo, ACI Senior Manager, Sustainability Initiatives. “These Essential Sustainability Procedures and Activities focus on best practices in areas such as raw material selection, resource management, product safety and manufacturing, packaging design, occupational health and safety, and sustainability reporting.”

The 2014 ACI Charter members include:
AzkoNobel
Arylessence, Inc.
Amway
BASF Corporation
Chemia Corporation
Church & Dwight Co., Inc.
The Clorox Company
Colgate-Palmolive Company
Croda, Inc.
The Dow Chemical Company
DuPont Industrial Biosciences
Ecolab Inc.
Evonik Corporation
Firmenich Inc.
GOJO Industries, Inc.
Henkel Consumer Goods Inc.
Huntsman Corporation
International Flavors & Fragrances, Inc.
Novozymes
Procter & Gamble
Sasol
SC Johnson
Seventh Generation
Shell Chemical LP
Stepan Company

The ACI Charter is based in part on the A.I.S.E. Charter for Sustainable Cleaning, a voluntary initiative of the European soaps, detergents and maintenance products industry developed by ACI’s sister trade association, A.I.S.E.
 
“We look forward to greater participation in the ACI Charter for Sustainable Cleaning in 2015 and beyond,” said Brian Sansoni, ACI Vice President, Sustainability Initiatives. “With a growing number of demands, questionnaires, surveys and scorecards related to sustainability, we want to help all of our members initiate or enhance their sustainability strengths in the years ahead.”
 
ACI member companies seeking more information about the Charter for Sustainable Cleaning can contact ACI’s Sustainability Office at sustainability@cleaninginstitute.org.