ABCO Cleaning Products is a family owned, certified minority-business enterprise that manufactures a full range of high-quality mops and complementary tools used for everyday floor cleaning.
We recently transitioned our production facility to solar power, optimized our packaging to reduce corrugate box waste, and designed equipment to convert 100% post-industrial apparel waste into high-quality Natura Yarn cleaning products that are Green Seal Innovation Certified.
A key part of our business strategy is grounded in promoting circularity in the apparel sector by diverting more than 10 million pounds of material that would have been destined for landfills to Natura Yarns that are now used in more than 228 Green Seal-certified skus.
WHY DO YOU PARTNER WITH GREEN SEAL?
We’ve seen a growing customer trend toward purchasing sustainable cleaning product alternatives. Aligning with Green Seal has elevated the brand equity of ABCO Products in the marketplace. Customers demand that products meet Green Seal’s standards – it has become a prerequisite for doing business.
Customers demand that products meet Green Seal’s standards – it has become a prerequisite for doing business.
HOW DO YOU USE GREEN SEAL IN YOUR CUSTOMER MARKETING?
Using the resources provided by Green Seal, including messaging, marketing materials and social media promotion, has generated increased business for ABCO Products on a national scale in multi-market segments, including industrial, fast food, educational and sanitary maintenance supply.
ABCO’s private label partners get access to all the same marketing benefits. They are able to use our Green Seal certification to sub-register products and use the mark on their labels, packaging and promotional materials.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR ABCO?
We’re focusing now on optimizing our PTS injection molding facility. This facility manufactures a variety of plastic cleaning tools that in 2020 converted more than 2.1 million discarded plastic bottles into brooms & brushes as part our portfolio of sustainable products.
The public comment period for Kaivac has ended. Please see the final issued criteria here.
Green Seal’s Environmental Innovation Program allows product manufacturers to explore environmental and health impacts, engage in transformative product innovation, and achieve global recognition to the newest sustainability standard.
Kaivac, Inc is a member of the initial cohort of beta program participants who are pursuing certification of their products under the Environmental Innovation Standard (GS-20, Edition 2.0). They submitted two products for the GS-20 Review: UnivacTM and AutoVacTM StretchTM with the same primary innovation claim: A significant reduction in the use of both water and cleaning solutions due to a high-flow fluid extraction method, debris filters, and the reuse of grey (recycled) water based cleaning solutions.
According to Kaivac, these products are able to reduce the use-phase impacts of powered floor maintenance equipment by 66% for water and 70% for cleaning solutions compared to other powered floor cleaning equipment in the North American market.
UnivacTM and AutoVacTM StretchTM Standard: GS-20 Environmental Innovation Start: 7/6/20 Stop: 8/6/20 11:59PM Published: Yes Kaivac’s Univac and AutoVac Stretch are used to clean hard surface commercial flooring. UniVac is designed to be used on hard-to-clean, heavily soiled grouted or obstructed floors, such as those found in commercial kitchens and restrooms. AutoVac Stretch is equipped with a trolley bucket and wide-area trailing squeegee to enable cleaning larger open hard-surface flooring (e.g., hallways, lobbies, gym floors, warehouse floors, etc.) Innovation Claim Details Kaivac claims that these products differ from other powered floor maintenance equipment on the market in two primary ways:
By reducing the typical water use rate by at least 66%
By reducing the typical cleaning solution use rate by at least 70% while maintaining equivalent product performance to comparable alternatives.
The environmental innovation is achieved through the following design elements:
The use of a high-flow fluid extraction method that removes soil and cleaning solution via a dual-blade squeegee head powered by a wet vacuum motor,
The use of filters for debris and contaminants via a fine mesh filter bag and sedimentation trough, and
The reuse of grey water based cleaning solution at least three times and up to seven times.
Green Seal has not yet validated any of these claims. Once Green Seal finalizes the requirements after this public comment period, Kaivac will submit documentation for third-party certification by Green Seal. The Univac and AutoVac Stretch will achieve Green Seal Certification for Environmental Innovation if all requirements within the Kaivac UniVac and AutoVac Stretch Criteria Document are met.
Environmental and Human Health Impacts
Over the lifecycle of powered floor maintenance equipment, the use phase has the most significant environmental and human health impacts through water use and cleaning solution use from normal operation.
Water Use Rate
According to the ISSA 612 Cleaning Times & Tasks book, comparable products such as floor scrubbers and autoscrubbers can clean 500 square feet per gallon of water on average depending on soil conditions. The applicant product is reported to clean 1500 to 3500 square feet per gallon of water depending on soil conditions.
Chemical Solution Use Rate
According to the ISSA 612 Cleaning Times & Tasks book, comparable products such as floor scrubbers and autoscrubbers typically use cleaning solution at a rate of 50 oz per 25,000 ft2. The applicant product is shown to have a cleaning solution use rate of 16 oz per 25,000 ft2. Cleaning solution metering is accomplished by using packets of pre-measured cleaning solution.
Chemical Hazards
Since the claims made in this certification relate to the efficiency of the product with regard to water use and cleaning solution use, the cleaning solution formulation was not reviewed for human and environmental hazards as part of the product innovation. Therefore, no claims shall be made in association with this certification as to the “safety” or “environmental preferability” of the parts or the cleaning solution formulation.
About Green Seal’s Environmental Innovation Standard
Green Seal’s Environmental Innovation Standard (GS-20) provides a framework for the certification of environmental innovations in a variety of product categories. Applicants follow the steps below to complete the process:
Update: The public comment period for ABCO Products has ended. Green Seal accepted public comments between April 6, 2020 and May 7, 2020. Learn more about ABCO Products and its product certification status on Green Seal’s Environmental Innovation Registry page.
Green Seal’s Environmental Innovation Beta Advisory Program allows product manufacturers to explore environmental and health impacts, engage in transformative product innovation, and achieve global recognition to a new type of sustainability standard.
ABCO Products is a member of the initial cohort of beta program participants who are pursuing certification of their products under the Environmental Innovation Standard (GS-20, Edition 2.0). The company submitted their NaturaYarn mop head for GS-20 Review with the following innovation claim: NaturaYarn mop heads are able to reduce environmental impacts as a result of proprietary equipment design using garment industry scraps resulting in 100% post-industrial reclaimed textile mop heads.
According to ABCO Products, the NaturaYarn mop head eliminates the greenhouse gas impacts associated with extracting virgin materials for plastic textile production; the product eliminates the use of additional agrochemicals, water consumption, and disruption to habitats associated with growing and harvesting additional virgin cotton; and this product establishes a circular supply chain by increasing the value of and demand for post-industrial apparel scraps.
Seeking Feedback
Green Seal is seeking your feedback on the innovation criteria document, including innovation claims, impact analysis, and certification requirements for this product. We invite all members of our stakeholder community and the general public to submit comments. Feedback will be accepted through 11:59PM ET on May 7, 2020.
About ABCO Products’ NaturaYarn
When used as intended, this product provides wet and dry floor care maintenance in commercial spaces including (but not limited to) industrial, hospitality, educational, and food service settings.
Innovation Claim Details
ABCO Products claims that through a proprietary equipment design resulting in mop heads made from 100% post-industrial blended cotton and polyester waste sourced from reclaimed textiles from garment manufacturing scrap, NaturaYarn mop heads are able to achieve a minimum of 20% reduction of two or more significant environmental or human health impacts associated with this product category.
The product design and manufacturing process leverages the textile waste material of a garment design center and promotes circularity within the apparel sector – one of the most well-documented and environmentally impactful manufacturing sectors. Textile waste is at an all-time global high; massive amounts of water and energy are used, and pollutants released into the environment, to generate textile material that would otherwise never reach an end user.
In addition, ABCO has installed on-site solar arrays at its production facility to reduce energy demand from non-renewable sources during the manufacture of its mop heads. ABCO continues to increase the share of its energy demand from on-site, renewable sources.
Green Seal has not yet validated any of these claims. Once Green Seal finalizes the requirements after this public comment period, ABCO Products will submit documentation for third-party certification by Green Seal. NaturaYarn will achieve Green Seal Certification for Environmental Innovation if all requirements within the ABCO Products NaturaYarn Criteria Document are met.
Environmental and Human Health Impacts
Mop heads are commonly made from blends of cotton and synthetic materials. The production of both materials creates significant environmental impacts.
Cotton serves as the basis for nearly 50 percent of the world’s clothes, household goods, and commercial products, and accounts for 85 percent of all natural fibers used in these materials. According to the World Wildlife Fund, “cotton’s most prominent environmental impacts result from the use of agrochemicals (especially pesticides), the consumption of water, and the conversion of habitat to agricultural use. Conventional production practices for cotton involve the application of substantial fertilizers and pesticides. Pesticides threaten the quality of soil and water, as well as the health of biodiversity in and downstream from the fields. Heavy use of pesticides also raises concern for the health of farm workers and nearby populations.” The organization adds that “runoff of pesticides, fertilizers, and minerals from cotton fields contaminates rivers, lakes, wetlands, and underground aquifers. These pollutants affect biodiversity directly by immediate toxicity or indirectly through long-term accumulation.”
Synthetic fibers are made from synthesized polymers whose raw materials include petroleum-based chemicals. These material inputs present significant resource extraction impacts, particularly related to greenhouse gas emissions. According to the World Wildlife Fund, polyester (a comparable synthetic material to nylon) requires 3-5 times more energy to produce than cotton textiles.
During the manufacturing phase, common environmental impacts from textile production (whether cotton or synthetic fiber) include soil and water quality degradation from toxic effluent emissions from wet treatment processes from the use of dyes, dye carriers, lubricants, detergents, and complexing agents.
According to van der Velden et. al., energy use for production of yarn, fabric, and the finished product (including shipping) is dependent on a wide range of variables related to the processes employed and the region of manufacturer. The variables include the type of fiber, the makeup, the dyestuff, the dyeing technique, and the machinery employed to produce the fiber.
Learn more about the environmental and human health Impacts of this product category by downloading the Innovation Claims.
About Green Seal’s Environmental Innovation Standard
Green Seal’s Environmental Innovation Standard (GS-20) provides a framework for the certification of environmental innovations in a variety of product categories. Applicants follow the steps below to complete the process:
Earning certification under the GS-20 Standard demonstrates that Green Seal, an independent third party, has verified the environmentally innovative aspect(s) of a product. The certification includes verification that the product innovation results in a significant reduction of human health and environmental impacts compared
