GREEN BALANCE STANDARD
July 2014
Green Balance is a manufacturer’s designation and is given to products that meet specified environmental requirements. The designation has a trademark and will be indicated by a logo on the label and in section 12 Ecological Information of the GHS Safety Data sheets. The focus of the designation relates to the ingredients used in the concentrate and not in a diluted version of the product.
Ingredients
99.5% of the concentrate must use raw materials considered green by one of the following rationales. First, ingredients are approved or on an approved list of at least one third party green certification organization. Second, they are in formulas directly approved by at least one third party green certification organization.
The remaining .5% includes the sum of the following class of raw materials. These ingredients do not generally meet third party green standards. Not all formulas use the allowable .5% and some of the formulas use 100% green ingredients. Their function is to allow the product to be aesthetically pleasing and to protect the useful life of the product so that it does not need to be discarded. Often many products without these ingredients would not be as effective and would have limited shelf life resulting in the premature discarding of plastic containers and cleaning solution thereby reducing its contribution to green practices.
Chelating agents are used to maintain the purity of deionized water and to provide pH stability. They are often found at levels of .05% or less in the concentrate.
Dyes are used at extremely low levels typically in the .02% level. We use FD&C dyes, wherever possible, which are considered ‘green”. If they are not stable in the formula, then other dyes need to be selected.
Fragrances are used typically at .1% to .2%. We use “green” fragrances wherever possible based on the requirements of the product.
Stabilizers are used typically below .15% and are necessary for hydrogen peroxide to remain stable and effective up to one year.
Corrosion Inhibitors are used below the .5% level and are a necessary component of some formulas to prevent corrosion of metals.
Green Balance is a manufacturer designation for high performing cleaning solutions. For this reason, the Green Balance pH standard allows for certain formulas to be outside the typical pH range of 4.0 to 10.0. For example, soap scum and hard water scale are difficult to remove with a formula with a pH of 4.0, but are readily removed if the pH is around 2.5.