from the petroleum industry, so this carbon is originally dug out of the ground as fossil fuels and CO2


to the atmosphere through burning or biodegradation.


However, if naturally derived, bio-renewable raw materials are used, meaning that some or all of their carbon is originally derived from carbon dioxide in the atmosphere – significantly reducing the CO2


e value of the material. Can you give us some examples of raw


material used? Lactic acid, for example, is a highly effective disinfectant and descaler. Our lactic acid is produced by fermentation of plant feedstocks such as sugar cane or sweetcorn that are specifically grown for this purpose.


Such lactic acid is actually CO2 more CO2


e-negative, in the sense that is removed from the atmosphere via photosynthesis


by the plants grown for subsequent fermentation, than is later generated by the production process. Our lactic acid actually has a CO2


acid-based products to carry extremely low CO2 in some cases, be CO2


e value of -224kg per tonne, and this enables lactic e values or,


e neutral. Other examples relevant to


BioHygiene include our range of plant-derived surfactants – which contain up to 100% bio-renewable carbon – and the use of bacteria and enzymes in our products that are all completely naturally derived.


How important are concentration levels of cleaning products when it comes to CO2


e?


Extremely important, as are the resulting dilution rates at which products are used. This is not rocket science – 1L of a 100-fold concentrate will make 100L of ready-to-use product, hence using one 1L container rather than 133 750ml trigger bottles, for example.


It goes without saying that we supply reusable trigger bottles into which such concentrates can be diluted. The core BioHygiene products are available as super- concentrates, being extremely effective at high dilution rates. The more concentrated the product and the higher the dilution at which it is effective, the smaller the amount of material and packaging that is contributing to CO2


e.


Can packaging make a difference in terms of CO2


e? Yes, absolutely.


Standard plastic packaging is derived from the petroleum industry, so the use of recycled plastics is extremely important. Wherever possible, BioHygiene uses PCR (Post- Consumer Recycled or Post-Consumer Resin) plastic. Instead of being sent to landfill, plastic packaging is broken down, melted and reconstructed to make a resin material that’s used to make new PCR plastic packaging. This starts a closed loop cycle of creating ‘new’ products with used recycled plastics.


As CO2


those of standard plastic, it’s easy to see how significant CO2


e values of 100% PCR plastic are around 17% of e savings can be made. We also use more than 90%


recycled cardboard which is also recyclable and in a similar www.tomorrowscleaning.com www.biologicalpreparations.com FEATURE | 45


is ultimately added


manner, can result in CO2


e reductions of up to 30%.


Various other environmentally friendly packaging options are also appearing on the market which have the potential to reduce CO2


e and bring other environmental


benefits. That said, careful consideration should be given to these new technologies, as they may bring limitations as well as advantages.


Biodegradable plastics for example, such as PLA (polylactic acid, derived from corn) are currently generating a lot of interest, but it should be borne in mind that these materials require fairly high temperatures in order to biodegrade. Hence, they must be sent to industrial composting facilities where such high temperatures are achievable. They simply cannot be broken down in home compost heaps or landfill sites, where they effectively behave like petroleum-derived plastics, taking many years to break down.


We have also encountered paper-based packaging, that which is based on seaweed and the use of liners made of plant sap latex. As with our own naturally-derived raw materials, care must be taken to ensure that source plants are grown specifically for this purpose and that their production does not involve destruction of any terrestrial or marine environments, or clearly the negatives would outweigh the benefits. In addition, for example, latex is only fully biodegradable if it has not been chemically treated. It’s always important to drill down on detail when discussing CO2


e and other environmental benefits.


Have you got an example of how much CO2


e by save up to 1100kg CO2


e you’ve helped a customer reduce? Recent examples include helping one client save CO2


products. So, these exercises are really worth carrying out, with the savings more than worthwhile.


How is all of this calculated?


In a variety of ways – for example, we have of course calculated CO2


data, also taking into account the proportion of bio- renewable carbon present.


CO2 e values for all our raw materials. This is


carried out by determining the carbon content from the molecular formula (or by chemical analysis if this is not possible) and calculating CO2


e data for packaging is calculated from published


data, taking into account the weight of each item and its percentage of recycled content.


As Scope 3 emissions account for upstream and downstream emissions of a product or service, and Scope 4 concerns emissions avoided by a particular situation, or by the use of a product or service, we should imagine that data like these will be extremely valuable in assisting companies to report their Scope 3 and 4 emissions.


e data from trusted, published


more than eight tonnes during 2022, with savings on an individual product basis being up to 48%. Another client who likes to track CO2


e data monthly showed that they could e a month by switching to BioHygiene


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