5 Essential Questions YOU need to ask about your Biodegradable Cleaning Product

When you see the word “Biodegradable” on a cleaning product label, you need to know that you have made a correct choice, that it will benefit the environment - based upon an honest & clear statement

Biodegradability means the contents of the cleaner you chose will break down quickly and naturally without causing harm to people or the environment... right? 

Unfortunately the truth is not so straight forward.

Some product information can be misleading but it is possible to distinguish which cleaning products are safe from the ones that simply market themselves that way. 

Here are 5 ways to tell the difference.

1) Is the Product Readily Biodegradable?

Every material eventually breaks down, whether this takes 30 days or 300 years, so saying something is biodegradable isn’t meaningful unless you also know the timeframe.

The term “Readily Biodegradable” is more relevant, because it means that substances in the product will break down within 28 days.

2) Does it comply with Australian or International Standards and is it also Accredited?

The criteria for Readily Biodegradable are set out in the Australian Standard AS4351.  The equivalent international standards are OECD 301A-301E and ISO 7827.  A company claiming compliance with any of these standards is legally required to have their products tested independently.

Examples of suitable Accreditation: Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP), GECA Environmental (Good Environmental Choice Australia), Global Ecolabelling Network (GEN)..

3) Is the Whole Product Readily Biodegradable?

Products are allowed to claim Ready Biodegradability compliance to AS4351 for just one of their ingredients, even if it makes up as little as 5% of the total.

It’s important to look for “Whole Product Readily Biodegradable” because this means all the ingredients will break down within 28 days.

4) Is the Product Low Harm?

Ready Biodegradability does not, in itself, make cleaning products low risk and low harm.

Known and suspected toxic substances that cause serious harm to humans including carcinogens and reproductive toxins are still found in a wide range of cleaning products, as are substances which pollute soil and water.

ALL Hazards and Precautionary statements must be identified on a Safety Data Sheet and Product labelling.

Hazards are codified using a unique alpha-numerical code which consists of one letter and three numbers

Product labels must also bear the relevant hazard statements describing the nature and severity of the hazards of the identified substance or mixture.

5) Can I see the SDS?

An SDS (Safety Data Sheet) must be provided to anyone purchasing cleaning products for a business or organisation. It contains information about the substances in the product including the health hazards, toxic effects and ecological risks associated with their use.

The SDS gives you far more information than is found on the label and will help you to make purchasing decisions that protect you, the people you work with and our planet.

And that’s something you can really feel good about.