FEATURE The road to sustainability
The Cleaning and Hygiene Suppliers Association (CHSA) goes in-depth with us on their Roadmap to Sustainability.
Ethical and environmental sustainability is an important issue. Organisations in the cleaning and hygiene sector are committed to adopting sustainability policies and procedures, but it’s not easy. The industry is highly competitive and operates on very tight margins. Many in the sector are without resources dedicated to this issue.
It’s difficult, if not impossible for some, to address the complexities of ethical and environmental sustainability. After all, it takes expertise to conduct a detailed life cycle analysis of the environmental impact of a product or service, or to distinguish greenwashing from substantive claims made by suppliers.
To help its members, the CHSA has developed a Roadmap to Sustainability. At its core, ethical and environmental sustainability is about creating products or services that are not wasteful at any point in their life cycle, from inception to the end of life. The Roadmap, therefore, is founded on the principle of treading lightly in all areas of the business, including the social dimension.
Five Pillars
The Roadmap identifies five fundamental pillars: Product, Packaging, Distribution, Social Values, and Corporate Environmental Impact.
Pillar 1: Product, as it is received, used and disposed of by the end user
Members are encouraged to design and develop products based on the principle of producing more product with fewer resources. Reducing waste is also key and designing the product to increase the recapture of resources at the end of the life cycle and, where this is not possible, to review the end-of-life disposal options, with the aim of moving up the waste hierarchy, away from landfill.
Pillar 2: All the packaging of a product, throughout the supply chain
This includes manufacturers’ packaging as well as that used by distributors as they re-pack the product for its last few miles to the end user. The goal is a minimalistic approach. Less is definitely more, both in terms of the amount of packaging used and the resources required for its production. Packaging also needs to be designed to simplify the waste stream, i.e. make it as easy as possible to get it into the right stream.
Pillar 3: Distribution, encompassing the movement of raw materials and delivery of product to the end user
This pillar is complex, so the advice for those at the beginning of their sustainability journey is to keep it simple and focus on a few key principles:
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• Design the product to optimise palletisation and vehicle usage so more can be transported in the same space.
• Opt for reduced emission transport options wherever it's possible.
• Collaborate with customers to optimise loads and delivery routes.
Pillar 4: Social values, including mental wellbeing and personal development
Mental wellbeing, personal development and corporate social responsibility sit in this pillar. The advice is to pause, notice and celebrate everything being done already. This pillar also covers the overall ethical approach of the business, including responsible sourcing throughout the supply chain and prompt payment terms.
Pillar 5: Corporate environmental impact covering waste, emissions and water
This area can feel intimidating, so the advice is to start with a few basics:
• Reduce waste to landfill. The ultimate goal is Zero Waste to Landfill Certification. The Certification process itself is valuable as it requires the company to understand and analyse in detail every waste stream.
• Reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Scope 1 covers direct emissions from owned or controlled sources. Scope 2 covers indirect emissions from, for example, the generation of purchased electricity, and Scope 3 covers all other indirect emissions from the company’s value chain. Set targets for reducing these emissions and then develop and implement strategies to reach the targets.
• Optimise water use. The first step is to understand existing water usage. For example, is it grey or drinking water? What are spillage and leakage rates? What is the quality of discharged water?
Information on the CHSA’s Roadmap to Sustainability is available on the CHSA website.
Helping buyers avoid greenwashing
As the sustainability has become integral to products and services in the cleaning and hygiene sector, so greenwashing claims have grown. Greenwashing is a form of marketing spin that presents an organisation’s products, services, aims and policies as more environmentally friendly than is the case.
To help buyers of cleaning and hygiene products differentiate between ethical businesses from those willing to bend and stretch reality, the CHSA integrated the Competition and
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