ECJ EUROPEAN Cleaning Journal

More than half the world’s biggest and most powerful companies have set a target to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions to net zero. To achieve that, businesses must address their entire environmental footprint.

Products and hygiene tools designed with those goals in mind can reduce a cleaning or FM company’s overall climate impact. Designing sustainable products must involve integrating environmental considerations into every stage of the product’s life cycle. Kristin Barrett, circularity programme manager at Kimberly-Clark Professional, tells us more.

Enhanced regulation, increasingly aware consumers and investors, and a greater urgency to address the climate crisis is driving corporate strategy and action on sustainability issues. Today, more than half of the world’s biggest and most powerful companies have set a target to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions to net zero (1). In the UK, the majority of the largest and most prominent companies have done the same (2).

To achieve this, companies will need to address their entire environmental footprint. This will include direct emissions from their offices, plants and facilities (Scope 1), the indirect emissions coming from the generation of the energy they buy (Scope 2), and all other indirect emissions that occur in their value chain (Scope 3). It is the Scope 3 emissions that are the most challenging to manage because they encompass the entire supply chain - from raw material extraction to product disposal - and include all of the elements outside of their direct control. And Scope 3 emissions normally account for more than 70 per cent of a firm’s carbon footprint (3). So, managing these emissions effectively is crucial for any organisation that is aiming to achieve net zero goals.

For cleaning and facilities management companies, helping businesses, schools, stadiums, shopping centres, hospitals and healthcare centres reach sustainability goals within budget is an ongoing challenge. Maintaining a strong standard of cleanliness and hygiene, while reducing costs and ensuring high satisfaction levels is a fine balancing act. Facilities managers and their cleaning teams need products and solutions that are developed to support sustainability, while also ensuring costs are kept under control and hygiene standards remain high.

Products and hygiene tools such as hand towel and soap dispensers designed with their carbon and environmental footprint in mind can significantly reduce a business’ overall climate impact. Likewise, devices and machinery that require less energy to produce, use, and dispose of can help lower overall carbon emissions. For example, energy-efficient appliances, low-emission vehicles, and sustainably manufactured goods will all contribute to reducing GHGs.

Design considerations

Designing sustainable products must involve integrating environmental considerations into every stage of the product life cycle. This lifecycle thinking means considering the environmental impacts of a product from cradle to grave - from raw material extraction to production, distribution, use, and disposal. Such a holistic approach helps identify opportunities to reduce environmental impacts at each stage of a product’s development.

A key part of this is selecting materials that will help to reduce the overall footprint, a process that demands intensive planning and consideration. A life cycle assessment (LCA) – to determine whether it is best to use glass or aluminium, for example is often necessary to establish the benefits of favouring one material over another. Using recycled or renewable materials plus avoiding hazardous substances are also important considerations in this process.

Designing products that consume less energy during their use phase can significantly reduce carbon emissions. Energy-efficient products are not only better for the environment but also offer cost savings for customers or end users. The KCP ICON dispenser, for example, uses direct drive technology, providing 150,000 dispenses per battery, 99.9 per cent jam free reliability and a machine that is 85 per cent quieter than the leading competition (4). Patented dual sensors provide responsive dispensing and the ability to vary the length of towel dispensed enables the facility to select the length which best meets their needs, controlling dispensing and reducing waste.

Developing products that last is also an increasingly important consideration. Creating solutions that are both durable and can easily be repaired reduces the need for expensive and frequent replacements and minimises waste. Planning for the end-of-life phase of a product or consumable involves comprehensively designing for disassembly, recyclability, or biodegradability. This ensures products can be responsibly disposed of, again minimising the overall environmental impact.

It’s time to go circular

Many companies across all business sectors have embraced circular economy principles, a key concept in sustainable product design (5). This involves creating circular systems, where products and materials are reused, recycled, or repurposed, minimising waste and resource consumption - and keeping materials in circulation for longer. Of course this helps preserve natural resources and reduces the burden associated with mining, logging and other extraction processes.

Circular systems are designed to eliminate waste by ensuring that materials from used products are continuously cycled through the economy. This can involve recycling materials into new items, refurbishing old products for resale, or repurposing waste materials for new uses.

These circular practices can significantly reduce GHGs by decreasing the energy required for the manufacturing of new products. And by reducing material costs, optimising resource use, and minimising waste disposal expenses, businesses can also improve their bottom line.

There are some great examples of companies setting standards in sustainable product design. The outdoor apparel business, Patagonia is renowned for its commitment to the planet. It designs durable products intended to last for years. It offers repair services to extend product life and encourages its customers to recycle products through its Worn Wear programme (6).

Similarly, the lighting and electronics company Philips has a clear focus on boosting energy efficiency, recyclability, and the use of sustainable materials - and has set ambitious targets to around all three as part of its design and manufacturing processes.

Kimberly-Clark Professional adheres to sustainable design principles throughout all its product research, design and development processes. For example, its controlled dispensing systems ensure that the right amount of product (hand towels, soap, sanitiser or toilet paper) is being dispensed, generating less waste. To be more respectful of natural resources, Kimberly-Clark Professional continues to look at new fibre sources so that it can maintain the 93 per cent of recycled fibres contained in tissue products made at its European mills

The company’s RightCycle Hand Towel Programme is a good example of how businesses can use circular recycling solutions. Hand towels are collected by specialised waste management partners and then used as input material for new paper-based products. It is a programme that is helping customers cut their waste by up to 25 per cent and increase their recycling rate by up to 5 per cent (7). The scheme can also help firms reduce their overall waste footprint. Rather than sending their old washroom dispensers to landfill at the end of their life, the previously hard-to-recycle items are collected and sent to a recycling partner, with all the raw materials used to create new products.

In an increasingly environmentally conscious market, the products you use, and offer your customers are more important than ever. Carefully designed products play a crucial role in advancing corporate sustainability goals, particularly in the FM and cleaning sector, by reducing carbon emissions, minimising waste, and increasing cost savings, while importantly maintaining cleanliness and hygiene standards. By embracing sustainable product design principles and circularity, businesses can enhance their environmental footprint - particularly Scope 3 - while meeting the ever-changing and challenging demands of customers and stakeholders.

References
1. https://zerotracker.net/analysis/new-analysis-half-of-worlds-largest-companies-are-committed-to-net-zero
2. https://zerotracker.net/analysis/new-analysis-half-of-worlds-largest-companies-are-committed-to-net-zero
3. https://www.unglobalcompact.org.uk/scope-3-emissions
4. Dispensing test conducted by Patmore Slades Horizons in September 2021.
5. https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/topics/circular-economy-introduction/examples
6. Worn Wear | Patagonia UK
7. Based on UK office per person average kg waste