Cleanzine: your weekly cleaning and hygiene industry newsletter 18th April 2024 Issue no. 1110
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First carbon footprint audit produced for Toucan Eco reveals low CO2 emissions
Centrego, the manufacturer of Toucan Eco cleaning and disinfection systems, has completed the first carbon footprint audit for its Toucan Eco Active Plus system.
The business, which manufactures Toucan Eco systems distributed in the UK by Robert Scott, commissioned international environmental consultancy Force Technology to complete an independent carbon footprint audit of its Toucan Active Plus system to evidence its environmental impact throughout its expected lifespan.
As businesses are increasingly required to audit and provide evidence of the ways in which they are reducing their environmental impact, Centrego saw the opportunity to proactively provide customers with the necessary information to contribute to their own carbon footprint auditing, as well as make more informed decisions about the cleaning and disinfection products they use and their associated environmental impact.
The Toucan Eco Active Plus system is designed to generate cleaning and disinfection solutions on-site using only water, salt and electrolysis. This removes the need for the majority of synthetic cleaning and disinfection chemicals, along with their plastic container and packaging waste. The carbon emissions footprint was calculated by analysing two areas of the system. The first was the amount of CO2 emitted from the manufacturing of the systems; the second was the amount of CO2 emitted from the production of one litre of activated, ready-to-use, solution.
The results of the independent audit indicate that the CO2 emissions to manufacture and install one Toucan Eco Active Plus system is 263 kg CO2 equivalent. The CO2 emissions to produce one litre of activated ready-to-use solution is 3.07 g CO2 equivalent.
To put this into context, running a laptop for an hour would produce the same CO2 emissions as generating 8.8 litres of activated, ready-to-use, Toucan Eco solution, and boiling a kettle once would produce the same CO2 emissions as generating five litres of activated, ready-to-use, solution.
"Our aim for commissioning an independent carbon footprint audit was to provide our customers with accurate analysis into the environmental impact of our products for use as part of their own environmental due diligence and as a way to effectively compare cleaning and disinfection products across the market,” explains Robin Turner, founder and director of Centrego.
"The audit clearly demonstrates that our systems are not carbon zero - energy is used to manufacture, transport and install the system. However, the carbon emissions and environmental impact of adopting and using the systems to generate cleaning and disinfection solutions are extremely low when compared to the production and distribution of synthetic chemicals, and the disposal of single-use plastic containers and other packaging. By quantifying our own product's environmental impact, we aim to provide a benchmark against which other alternatives can be assessed."
Steve Courtney, Toucan Eco product lead at Robert Scott, adds: "The results of the carbon footprint audit are a major step forward in evidencing further how, by switching to a Toucan Eco system, businesses can significantly reduce the environmental impact of their cleaning and disinfecting processes.
"This is something Robert Scott's customers are asking about more frequently and with the evidence that Force Technology has provided as part of its independent audit, we know we're in a better position to provide customers with impartial data that they can use as part of their own environmental reporting to make informed, responsible decisions on the products they choose for their business."
To view a summary of the carbon footprint audit, visit:
8th September 2022