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Product Sustainability
We use industry best practices to develop innovative solutions to support our customers’ business and sustainability goals while helping protect the environment and promoting human health.
When it comes to our products, we consider the total impact to both human health and the environment. Our Impacts That Matter criteria and packaging principles help ensure that Ecolab products are designed with sustainability in mind while not compromising on safety and performance. Ecolab is a leader in the industry in developing new, effective solutions that help our customers drive operational efficiency, product quality, safety and compliance while minimizing environmental impact.
Sustainable Design Principles
We work to integrate safety and sustainability considerations into the product development process, from our operations to developing programs for our customers to instructions for use. Everyone at Ecolab shares this responsibility, and the foundations of sustainable design are embedded into our Research and Development processes.
Chemicals Management
Ecolab’s product sustainability programs are built in partnership with our regulatory teams to go beyond regulation to help ensure best practices in chemical product management. Ecolab participates in the Chemical Footprint project as part of our annual review of practices in this area.
In 2021, we refreshed our internal sustainability policies to reflect the latest in product stewardship best practices and scientific evidence on chemicals of high concern to help customers feel safe using our products. In 2022, we continued this process and successfully drove down the total number of products with substances of high concern by 3%. We expect this number to continue to decrease as more products are eliminated in the coming years.
Packaging Goals
Ecolab is committed to ensuring that our products and packaging advance safety and sustainability. We are committed to continuously improving our designs to help minimize waste and safely deliver best-in-class experiences for our customers.
By 2030, our goal is to have moved to reusable or readily recyclable packaging for non-regulated products in our portfolio. Our commitment to excellence in packaging design is supported by a global team of more than 50 packaging professionals, including engineers, materials scientists, analysts and technicians.
Reducing Plastic Waste
- We have a long history of pioneering packaging technology. For example, our SmartPower™ technology reduces plastic use by up to 99%, as compared to traditional packaging, by replacing five-gallon plastic pails with shrink-wrapped blocks.
- In addition, we were an early adopter of reusable containers for our concentrate products, as well as in the incorporation of post-consumer recycled plastic resin (PCR) into many of our packages. For more than 16 years, our SolidPower™ XL capsule has contained 40% post-consumer resin.
- In 2022, we utilized over 5 million pounds of post-consumer plastic resin.
- In 2022, we avoided the use of more than 13 million pounds of virgin plastic resin.
- As a result of innovations in the way we formulate and package products for our customers, we have avoided the use of more than 129 million pounds of virgin plastic resin production since 2014.
- In addition to reducing our plastic waste and expanding reusable packaging programs, we work to ensure our packages are readily recyclable and incorporate post-consumer plastic waste where possible.
Regulatory
Our regulatory teams, processes, policies and practices are the foundation for keeping our customers and business ahead of ever-changing regulations.
Ethical Sourcing
Our suppliers are held to global fundamental principles of human dignity.
Our Ethical Sourcing Standards are the foundation of our global supply chain initiative, requiring our direct suppliers to protect the health, safety and human rights of their associates.
Palm Oil Sourcing
Ecolab does not directly purchase palm oil or palm oil derivatives. However, any supplier partners providing palm derived material are members of Round Table on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), to ensure sustainable and responsible sourcing.
Conflict Minerals
Ecolab supports human rights organizations to end violence and atrocities in Central Africa, specifically the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and nine adjoining countries: Republic of Congo, Central Africa Republic, South Sudan, Zambia, Angola, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda.