Cleanzine: your weekly cleaning and hygiene industry newsletter 18th April 2024 Issue no. 1110
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Biosciences company welcomes new 'Greenwashing' Code
With an increasing number of commercial and household cleaning products making misleading environmentally responsible claims, Genesis Biosciences has welcomed the Competition & Markets Authority's new 'Green Claims Code'.
The code gives guidance on what terminology companies can use when marketing products as 'green' and encourages thorough checks into eco-friendly claims. A further review into misleading claims both online and offline is due to begin in 2022 with a focus primarily on textiles and fashion, travel and transport, beauty products and cleaning products.
Genesis Biosciences, which is helping lead the way when it comes to developing probiotic technology in the cleaning industry, has long been calling for manufacturers to substantiate their eco statements or remove them altogether so as not to mislead the public.
"While Genesis has invested years of scientific investigation and spent millions of pounds developing a truly green technology, a number of companies are publicly boasting about eco credentials that cannot be backed up, are misleading or simply aren't true,” notes Dr Emma Saunders, general manager for Genesis Biosciences.
"Quite often, products will contain hazardous and unsafe surfactants but don't require labelling due to the low level included in the solution and the consumer is oblivious. Non-environmentally responsible preservatives can also be used within cleaning products, which, if not labelled, gives a false statement of eco-credentials.
"There are many products on the market that claim to be eco-friendly because they contain probiotics, but the environmental impact of a product is dependent on the full composition, so the different additives used alongside the probiotics must also be considered. To be truly environmentally responsible, the chemistry and raw materials in the cleaning products must have a minimal impact on the environment, from their method of manufacture to their final fate in the environment."
Genesis Biosciences implements a meticulous eco-benign checklist to ensure all raw materials used in its cleaning solutions are readily biodegradable with a low toxicity profile and are primarily derived from sustainable sources."
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