Commission Recommendation concerning good environmental practice for household laundry detergents (98/480/EC)

The objective of this Recommendation from the European Commission is to encourage manufacturers and users of detergents to use household laundry detergents in an environmentally friendly way. The Commission Recommendation was created as a result of a request from AISE, the International Soap Industry Association, to endorse its Code of Good Environmental Practice for Household Laundry Detergents. Member States agreed to contribute to the implementation of this Commission Recommendation and all stakeholders showed interest in the achievement of the targets set in the above Recommendation, and particularly:

• the use of lower washing temperatures to decrease energy consumption and thus decrease CO2 emissions;
• a decrease of the consumption of detergents and their packaging to lower the general environmental impact of detergents;
• a decrease of the poorly biodegradable ingredients in detergents (PBO's), which may reduce the effects of detergents on the environment.;