The Global GreenTag Cleaning Product Standard has been recognised by the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA) for its Green Star Performance rating tool ‘Green Cleaning’ credit.
‘The Green Star ‘Green Cleaning’ credit requires certified green cleaning products and GreenTag is now recognised as by the GBCA as a third party certification program that is authorised to certify products under this credit,’ stated a late November press release.
The Standard was developed with the assistance of an industry expert panel including representatives of ACCORD – the industry association for personal and cleaning product manufacturers; manufacturers such as Eco Store and Ecolab; and the GreenTag National Advisory Committee for cleaning products. That Committee included representatives of the Building Service Contractor’s Association, the National Cleaning Suppliers Association and Bridget Gardner from Fresh Green Clean.
According to Gardner, “Environmental marketing is complex and often fraught with ‘greenwash’. GreenTag’s scientific approach to measuring a product’s whole-of-life impact is the missing link for green cleaning.
“Now, the full life cycle impact of a microfibre mop will be able to be compared with that of green chemistry or steam cleaning equipment, for example. I really hope the industry will embrace such a positive move,” she said
GreenTag is said to be different from other accreditation or labelling systems. ‘It’s not a pass fail label, it’s a rating system that uses whole of life, life cycle analysis (LCA) and also considers all the health and biodiversity impacts of all constituents to 0.01% and ensures that the product is both safe to use.
‘It also assesses the corporate social responsibility of the manufacturer, its supply chain, labour practices and reports results transparently using a product scorecard and EcoPOINT score. The Bronze, Silver, Gold or Platinum GreenTag Mark also makes it easy for professionals to choose between certified products.’
GreenTag has been in the market and recognised by GBCA in the building and interiors sector for some five years and has nearly 900 products under certification.
GreenTag CEO David Baggs believes that, “GreenTag is a game changer for the industry. It allows manufacturers with innovative products such as activated water and microfibre to rate themselves against business as usual products.
“It also allows building owners, facilities managers and cleaning companies to see just how healthy and efficient the product they are purchasing really is.’
“We already have a number of really innovative cleaning products that are undergoing or considering certification. We look forward to working further industry leaders to lift the cleaning product sector to a new level of transparency and increase the understanding of the positive benefits that GreenTag certified products bring to the purchasers, building owners and the occupants,” concluded Baggs.