Minimising your environmental impact during cleaning

While businesses have introduced more robust cleaning regimes, the desire to be eco-friendly and environmentally conscious remains high for many. As awareness around single use plastics and environmental impact rises, many businesses are keen to show how they’re keeping sustainability front of mind.

We spoke to Gill Ireson, head of sales at Robert Scott, one of the UK’s leading providers of cleaning supplies, to find out more about the sustainable products available to support enhanced cleaning regimes.

“Consumer demand for more environmentally friendly cleaning practices is only going one way: up,” said Gill. “But we also have the presence of Covid-19 in our collective mindsets and people want to feel reassured that the space they’re in is clean and safe. That heightened awareness of cleanliness is something that, I believe, has fundamentally changed forever, so it’s important for businesses in all sectors to carefully consider the efficacy of products as well as their cost and environmental impact.

“As a manufacturer and supplier, we’ve prioritised the need for sourcing and using greener materials that offer excellent performance with a lower environmental footprint. There are plenty of incredible cleaning solutions on the market now that not only do the job and do it well, but are kind to the planet, too.”

Key considerations for greener cleaning
The cleaning industry provides essential services to keep businesses hygienically clean and germ-free. Going green and using fewer chemicals, less plastic and more eco-effective solutions helps to protect the planet and reduce the impact of cleaning on eco-systems.

“There have been enormous developments in the actual items we use to clean to make these more sustainable,” said Gill. “An example is in Robert Scott’s range of mop heads, which are all made in the UK from sustainably-sourced materials. The cotton used in the mop heads is sourced from waste produced during the spinning process, giving a use for a material that would otherwise be disposed of. Because they’re made here in the UK, they also reduce a business’ carbon footprint using a local supply chain.”

Introducing Ecofibre
“We’ve also been testing products made from recycled materials to see which perform best for commercial cleaning and we’ll be launching two new products to market soon,” Gill continued. “The first is an Ecofibre cloth, which has all the cleaning performance of microfibre but is made from 55% recycled plastic – there’s actually two recycled plastic bottles in each cloth. The second is the Ecofibre scourer – a recycled, non-scratch scouring pad for tough, eco-friendly cleaning that’s made using 40% plant fibre, nut shells and 15% recycled polyester.

“This is an area of product development we’ll be investing further into in 2022 – we want to find sustainable alternatives for as many daily cleaning products and tools as we can for our customers to reduce our collective environmental impact,” she added.

Natural fibres are another way to harness excellent cleaning with minimal environmental impact. Robert Scott has used lambswool in product development, for example in its Lambswool Duster, thanks to its hard-wearing nature and ability to attract and hold dust – making it perfect for cleaning high level spaces.

Keeping surfaces clean
Surface cleaning is one of the most regular and important elements of the cleaning process. “Surfaces with high touch points – such as worktops, door handles, taps and buttons – should be cleaned regularly and with an effective cleaner,” explains Gill.

“It’s always been important to maintain cross-contamination control, but it’s never been more important to keep surfaces hygienically clean than it is now. Again, microfibre, and especially our new Ecofibre cloths, offer an excellent way to do this – they’re safe, effective and very eco-friendly, especially when compared to disposable cloths and wipes.

Focus on the floor
“Floorcare offers plenty of opportunity to reduce your environmental impact,” added Gill. “There are lots of mops and buckets which are made from recycled materials, and plenty of mop heads are machine washable allowing for multiple uses.

“Microfibre has an important role to play in floorcare and is often found integrated into spray mop heads. Our Pro-Mist mop system delivers a fine mist of cleaning solution directly to the surface, and the microfibre flatmop uses less liquid to clean the area, which means it dries quicker too.”

What else?
“Consider looking for FSC-certified wood used in handles, such as mops and brooms, which means the materials are being ethically sourced and renewed by planting new trees,” said Gill.

One key tool that’s being used more widely in all manner of facilities, from schools and offices through to hospitality and leisure, is Toucan Eco. This is a make-it-yourself, non-chemical cleaning solution that uses nothing more than water, salt and electricity to create a powerful, eco-friendly disinfectant cleaning solution.

Gill explains: “Toucan Eco uses an electrical current to activate a solution of water and salt, creating hypochlorous acid – which is a disinfectant – and sodium hypochlorite at a mild pH which is a gentle cleaner. Because it’s made on-demand using nothing more than household ingredients, it’s much better for the environment – there’s no shipping of large quantities of cleaning solution, no harmful chemicals released into the eco system and no single use plastic bottle waste that can’t be recycled.”

Because the Toucan Eco range is available in a number of different unit sizes from 350ml up to 350 litres, it’s suitable for businesses of all shapes and sizes. And, as consumers continue to demand environmentally friendly cleaning methods, there’s no time like the present for businesses to make the switch.