‘For our customers, the independent EU Ecolabel is part of their doing business ’
‘Some 25 years ago, Diversey already had eco-certified products, but the ecolabels available then were all mostly national or regional at best. A difficult business situation, as there were so many labels on the European market. The benefit of the EU Ecolabel for us is that it is well recognized in every European country. Today around 170 of our products are certified with the EU Ecolabel.
We know our products are sustainable, but for our customers an independent seal of approval is important. It is part of their doing business with their customers. A building service contractor wants to be able to show that the products he uses are ‘green’. Likewise for the hotel industry. For them, eco-certification is really important, because they wish to position themselves as being very sustainable. The EU Ecolabel provides this independent appraisal.
Diversey
Makes: professional cleaning solutions, including cleaning and personal care products, cleaning tools and machines, services, auditing, and training
Certified products: 170 cleaning products for institutional use
Contact: www.diversey.com, more information on sustainability you will find in Diversey’s sustainability report
Speaking: Executive director marketing sustainable development Antoine Rocourt and product manager Markus Bolte
EU Ecolabel is the standard in our regime
Nevertheless, new customers opening businesses in Europe may still ask for their national ecolabel. It takes effort to explain that the EU Ecolabel is the standard in our regime and that it is comparable to many national ecolabels. For us as a worldwide operating company, we would like to see more recognition between ecolabels in the different regions of the world.
In regions with no eco label of their own, the EU Ecolabel also benefits us. For example, in the Asian Pacific region, our products cannot be certified, but we can supply similar products as in Europe. We cannot use the EU Ecolabel on those products, but if a customer specifically asks for it, we provide the certification documentation to show that the formula is the same.
Diversey’s with EU Ecolabel certified products
Not simply filling in a form
The EU Ecolabel is not only about the chemical substances used. It includes the product itself, the way it is used and the packaging in which it is used. The certification process takes time and effort and since the criteria change and get stricter over time, certifying is not a one-time operation. You need technical expertise, somebody who understands what the criteria mean and you need to prove the efficacy of the products in use. As you get more experienced, you get familiar with the process, but it is not simply filling in a form.
To discuss new criteria, the EU Ecolabel invites us to be part of working groups. We participate in those groups to make sure that the criteria are relevant and workable for us, for the industry, and for the EU Ecolabel. The European Commission is open to our experiences and values the participation of market parties in the development of criteria.
Strive for circularity and carbon neutrality
Our ambitions on sustainability go much further into the future. We strive for circularity and carbon neutrality, for instance in the way we produce and where we get our raw materials from. All our products meet eco standards, but for some products (like disinfectants) there is no certificate available simply because no criteria have been set yet.
When we started eco certifying twenty years ago, we renamed our certified products and we still have a range with ‘Eco’ in the brand name. We are now considering not using that separate name anymore, because the customer will know that every product from Diversey is an eco product. The next step is to extend using renewable resources instead of petrochemical.’