Sustainability in homecare and industrial cleaning raw materials and formulation solutions

Cleaning products used to disinfect homes, restaurants, medical facilities, and other environments are essential to our everyday lives, keeping us healthy and safe from harmful bacteria and unsanitary conditions. Understandably, cleaning brands and manufacturers struggle to know where to begin their journey into sustainability or how to position products to meet growing consumer expectations and regulatory demands.

As conscientious consumers seek to know "what makes a 'good' cleaner," Ingredients and Specialties from Univar Solutions Homecare & Industrial Cleaning division is committed to helping the cleaning industry bring innovative products to market with sustainability at the forefront. Partnering with crucial specialty ingredient suppliers to provide the latest product innovation and guidance, we are building sustainable solutions with enzymes, microbes, and bio-derived materials to support the future of clean.

Today's top-shelf cleaning products now include more bio-based and biological solutions for consumers and industries while still delivering powerful disinfection and deep-cleaning performance. Industries that use sustainable cleaning ingredient formulations include: 

• Automotive care and appearance
• Hand and automatic dishwash
• Hard-surface cleaners
• Multi-functional laundry care
• Medical device cleaning
• Professional cleaning services

Whether by advancing eco-friendlier cleaning technologies, promoting responsible care in packaging and water usage, or meeting environmental regulations, our cleaning ingredients and technical specialists are dedicated to helping you find and formulate sustainable product solutions.

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Interested in sustainable ingredient options?

Whether advancing eco-friendlier applications, emphasizing label claims, or meeting environmental regulations, our sustainable ingredients guide provides insights to help you find the best solutions for your applications.

Laundry care products that deliver industrial-grade sanitation

Our product formulations provide efficient and effective solutions for industrial laundry applications, from super-concentrated and enzymatic detergents to premium fabric softeners. To support more sustainable cleaning processes, our focused technical laboratories developed custom essential washing formulas for each phase of a large-scale laundry, requiring less material and fewer resources to produce the same powerful effects. That includes cold water wash and concentrates, reducing the amount of shipped water in a final formula, and lowering energy usage.

Learn how our Life, Cycle industrial laundry innovations can help tackle the toughest laundering challenges, resulting in bright whites, improved sustainability efficiencies, and lower costs for large-scale laundry facilities.

Conscientiously Clean: Reducing 1,4-dioxane in household cleaning products

Our scientific experts have developed several clean and compliant product formula alternatives to help you meet 1,4-dioxane requirements and address new market changes. Cleaning brands have so much to consider as they tackle the challenge of ingredient evaluation and reformulation to comply with regulatory standards. Our formulators and ingredient specialists are here to help brands review ethoxylated surfactant levels in their existing formulations, as well as sourcing 1,4-dioxane surfactant alternatives.

Get started today by requesting our Conscientiously Clean formulation kit, a set of lab-tested, quality-approved starter formulations with key ingredients to help you comply with the 1,4-dioxane legislation. The Conscientiously Clean kit is applicable for various cleaning products and includes an all-purpose cleaner, shower/tub/tile cleaner, mid-tier manual dish soap, and a 3x liquid laundry formulation.

How Ingredients and Specialties (I+S) from Univar Solutions can support your ESG goals for a 'greener' clean

At I+S, we understand how sustainable cleaning manufacturing solutions directly connect to the health of our planet – from how we formulate in our labs to how we package and transport cleaning ingredients across the world.

As a global chemical and ingredient distribution leader, we take our Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG) responsibilities seriously. We support sustainable home care and industrial cleaning manufacturing and product innovations with the following:

• A sustainable supply chain that leverages our global distribution footprint, sustainable practices, and technologies to help us meet our sustainability goals and those of our customers.
• Waste management and recycling programs that reduce costs, minimize environmental impacts, and optimize resource use for your operations.
• Formulation and laboratory solutions through a global network of Solution Centers that free your resources and support your sustainable ingredient research and analysis for eco-friendly product development.
• Sustainable ingredient alternatives to apply; from biologically derived to sustainably sourced ingredients, we work with leading suppliers to bring you the needed materials.