The next editions of the Sustainable Cleaning Products Summit will take place in 2017: The North American edition will be hosted in New York City on 2-3rd May 2017, whilst the 3rd European edition will take place in Paris on 8-9th November. Please register to get regular updates on upcoming editions.
The 2016 European edition of the Sustainable Cleaning Products Summit was hosted in Paris on 26-27 October. The summit comprised three dedicated session and two interactive workshops.
Wednesday 26th October: Day One
Workshop I: Sustainability in Detergents
Workshop II: Reducing Packaging Impacts
Thursday 27th October: Day Two
Session One: Sustainability Metrics
Session Two: Advances in Green Ingredients
Session Three: Addressing Consumer Impacts
Wednesday 26th October: Day One
Workshop I: Sustainability in Detergents
A pressing issue in the cleaning products
industry is sustainable detergents. What makes a detergent sustainable,
and how could such claims be substantiated? This new workshop gave a
detailed assessment of sustainable detergents, exploring the complexity
of this thorny subject.
An introduction was given to green and sustainability terms in the
context of cleaning products. An overview was given of contentious
chemicals and their associated environmental and human impacts. The
technical and performance issues concerning sustainable detergents were
discussed, as well as green standards / labels and marketing issues.
Expert insights were given into future developments of this emerging
area.
Workshop II: Reducing Packaging Impacts
Cleaning product companies and retailers are looking at
various ways to reduce their packaging footprints. Although great
strides have been made in eco-design approach and sustainable
materials, the adoption rate of sustainable packaging remains low.
This workshop was a practical guide for cleaning product companies
looking to making their packaging more sustainable. With the use of
case studies, the workshop leader went through various techniques
and methods to reduce the environmental footprint of product packaging.
Thursday 27th October: Day Two
Session One: Sustainability Metrics
The opening session discussed the growing use of
metrics to measure and reduce impacts of cleaning products. What
methodologies are used to measure environmental footprints of finished
products? What metrics are mostly taken? How can metrics be put to
practical use by ingredient and cleaning product companies? Such
questions were addressed in this session.
A visionary environmental chemist kicked off the summit with a keynote
on product design. How can the cleaning products industry go beyond
reducing environmental impacts and create positive impacts? Other
papers in this session discussed measuring environmental impacts, the future of cleaning products in a
circular economy, and an update was given on the European market for
green cleaning products.
Session Two: Advances in Green Ingredients
A growing number of cleaning product companies are
looking to use green ingredients in cleaning product formulations. This
session gave an update on some of the ingredients under scrutiny for
their high environmental impacts. With palm oil in the spotlight for
its link to deforestation, an update was given on sustainable sourcing
of this ubiquitous vegetable oil. Another paper looked at the
possibilities provided by sustainable coconut oil as a detergent
feedstock. Other topics covered developments in sustainable
surfactants and deforestation-free feedstock, whilst a case study was
given of a leading brand with green product formulations. Insights were given into the technical issues brands face when creating
sustainable cleaning products.
Session Three: Addressing Consumer Impacts
With the highest environmental impact of cleaning
products at the consumer level, this session looked at approaches to
influence consumer behaviour. How can companies and retailers encourage
consumers to be more responsible in the purchase and use of cleaning
products? What are the key lessons from related industries?
Some research on consumer behaviour towards laundry and cleaning
products was presented, as well as case studies from a leading retailer
and consulting agency. An industry expert gave case studies from
related sectors on how consumers can be engaged for positive change.
The summit materials are now available for a professional fee. Click here for more details.
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