Ecolab

Grade summary

Ecolab produces/uses 16 highly hazardous substances, but it does not produce any persistent chemicals as the company actually phased one out from its portfolio. Compared to many other companies in the ranking that might seem good, but it…

Ecolab produces/uses 16 highly hazardous substances –16 SIN List chemicals, 3 PICs, and 4 HHPs – 7 of which are included on the EU’s REACH Candidate List. 1 of these highly hazardous substances are either banned or severely restricted, with set dates when production needs to cease (1 Authorisation List substances, and no POPs). The company produces no persistent chemicals.

Please note that there is no available data for the 23% of the company’s production that takes place outside of the EU and US. Lower EU/US production means higher uncertainty with regard to the total production of hazardous chemicals, which will have a negative impact on the company’s score in this category.

Ecolab has a method in place to screen and assess the sustainability of its products and includes the intrinsic hazards of ingredients in the screening process. It does not, however, exclude substances with toxic properties from its new products. Ecolab actively markets safer alternatives on its own website, but not on ChemSec Marketplace. The company has not any true circular products, processes or innovations. Ecolab does not use biobased resources. Nor does it source and treat recycled materials in a sustainable way, which is one of the key elements of a circular economy. Ecolab is actively reducing the hazardous waste it generates.

The American company does not produce only sustainable products, and has no phase-out strategy for hazardous substances that go beyond regulatory compliance. It shares chemical safety information on its website and is following a credible code of conduct standard. Ecolab did not respond to ChemSec’s attempts to communicate around its ChemScore ranking and it does not share any information about what kind of chemicals it produces in regions with low regulatory demands for transparency (e.g. Asia). Ecolab does not have a circular economy program in place, thus lacking objective and measurable circular economy targets.