Science in the box

A.I.S.E. had launched several environmental safety and sustainability programmes in the 1990 and early 2000s including the A.I.S.E. Code of Good Environmental Practice (GEP). Subscribers to the Code committed to achieving four quantitative targets over a 5 year period between 1996 and 2001 for household laundry detergents, specifically:

• to reduce the per capita product tonnage consumption by more than 10%
• to reduce packaging material consumption by more than 10%
• to reduce consumption of organic materials which are poorly biodegradable (so-called PBO, Poorly Biodegradable Organics) by more than 10%.
• to reduce by more than 5% the energy consumed in the wash process as measured by decreased average washing temperature.

Many of these goals were achieved. (Download the full report)
The A.I.S.E. Code of Good Environmental Practice programme developed into the "A.I.S.E. Washright" initiative (http://www.washright.com), an important educational programme deployed in all EU countries through the A.I.S.E. members’ marketing organizations and with full knowledge of the local consumer organizations. This programme is best known by the Washright panel evident on the labels of many of detergent brands.

The A.I.S.E. GEP and Washright programmes successfully met the set targets and served as a pioneering benchmark for other industry associations on how to work together to improve the sustainability profile of consumer products as well as educating consumers to adopt more sustainable wash behaviour.

ERASM (Environmental & Health Risk Assessment Management) is a research partnership between the detergents and surfactants industries in Europe constituted in 1991.
This joint platform of the European detergent and surfactants producers represented by their associations A.I.S.E.  (Association Internationale de la Savonnerie, de la Détergence et des Produits d’Entretien) and CESIO (Comité Européen des Agents Surface et de leurs Intermédiaires Organiques – a sector group of CEFIC ), initiates and co-ordinates joint industry activities for improving and enlarging the basis for and the knowledge about the risk assessment of detergent-based surfactants in environmental compartments, and (since 2009) human health. Also, the aspect of surfactant sustainability has also been added to its remit.
Both organizations sponsor the ERASM activities equally.

The achievements
In its 20+ years history  ERASM has successfully organized and executed:

• the Dutch Risk Assessment of four priority surfactants (LAS, AE, AS, and AE), one of the first categories of industrial chemicals to undergo in-depth risk assessments;
• the creation and delivery of GREAT-ER model  to allow extrapolation of the Dutch results to the rest of Europe, and to do site specific risk assessment with high reliability;
• the Terrestrial LAS risk assessment in Denmark, paving the way for the risk assessment of chemicals in sewage sludge;
• the Surfactant Bioaccumulation studies at RITOX, providing factual numbers and showing the impact of biotransformation on the BCF value
• Risk assessment methodology for complex substances composed of many isomers and homologues (e.g. Alcohol ethoxylates), together with novel analytical methods
• Developing new testing methods for anaerobic degradability of surfactants and positioning the environmental relevance of anaerobic versus aerobic biodegradation
• The generation of new Life Cycle Inventories for surfactant production;

The whole of these activities, many executed together with independent third parties, has allowed the industry to gain credibility and trust from leading European scientists and regulators.
Scientists at P&G have been heavily involved in ERASM activities and have (co-)authored a number of reports and publications with their industry colleagues on the following topics:

• Environmental Risk Characterization of four Major Surfactants used in the Netherlands
• Determination of Alcohol Ethoxylate Components in Sewage Sludge
• Identification of an In Vitro Method for Estimating the Bioconcentration and biotransformation of Surfactants in Fish
• Anaerobic Biodegradation of Surfactants - Review of scientific information Exposure
• Development of the  GREAT-ER  model

More than 60 scientific publications have been issued from ERASM activities, contributing directly to the advancement of the science, also beyond the domain of surfactants.

 

Learn more about ERASM
Learn more about GREATER
Learn more about Long-Range Research Initiative

P&G actively supports the Charter for Sustainable Cleaning produced by the International Association for Soaps, Detergents and Maintenance Products (A.I.S.E.), which aims to bring about continual improvement in the industry.
Specifically, the A.I.S.E. Sustainable Cleaning Charter (http://www.sustainable-cleaning.com) was launched in 2005 and requires participating companies to have systems in place for continual assessment and review of sustainability performance at every important stage of the product lifecycle, including  raw material selection, chemical safety, resource use, occupational health and safety and advice to consumers on the safe and sustainable use of cleaning products.
P&G supports AISE's view that doing regular assessments and reviews and ensuring proper information handling and training should automatically stimulate and bring about improvement.
In order to demonstrate how the industry is improving, AISE reports annually on the sustainability performance of the industry across Europe. Each year, AISE provides the public and all interested bodies with a sustainability report based on aggregated data for key performance indicators, grouped according to their economic, environmental or social importance, using data from individual company members of the Charter. The first report was published in 2006 and provided a set of benchmark figures based on data for company financial years ending in 2005. See all reports at AISE sustainability report.
In October 2010, A.I.S.E. launched the “Charter Update 2010”. A key component of the Charter Update 2010 is the addition of a product dimension. The inclusion of a product dimension further strengthens the scheme by enabling it to more completely cover the whole life of a product in terms of sustainability, from manufacturing to end-use.This will also signal to consumers that a product is environmentally compatible, allowing them to make a more informed choice of products.
This is achieved by creating “Advanced Sustainability Profiles” (ASPs) for each major product group. The ASPs are designed to determine a set of minimum criteria that a product must meet, in order to be considered as an example of a product with a good sustainability profile. Products complying with these ASP requirements can carry the so-called AISE ASP logo.

In 2008, A.I.S.E. and CEFIC have launched the www.cleanright.eu website with information on the benefits, composition, safety and sustainability of detergents and cleaning products. The Cleanright website is a joint initiative of A.I.S.E. (www.aise.eu), the European association representing the soaps, detergents and maintenance products industry, and CEFIC (www.cefic.org), which represents the chemical industry in Europe.
This website makes information available to consumers, policy makers and others who are looking for advice and factual information on laundry, cleaning and maintenance products used in the home. The purpose of the website is to provide information so consumers and stakeholders can make informed decisions. The website has information on the benefits, functioning and composition of these products, as well as on how to use the products effectively, safely and in the most sustainable manner.
Go to the Cleanright website .

The European chemical manufacturers and formulators, through their respective industry associations (the European chemical industry, CEFIC , and the European detergent formulators, A.I.S.E. ), joined forces and conducted a peer reviewed risk assessments for the common ingredients of household cleaning products. This voluntary programme is referred to as "HERA" (Human and Environmental Risk Assessments).
Read more about this on the HERA website