Certifications

The Forest Stewardship Council is an international non-profit that sets the benchmark for responsible forest management. The FSC Recycled mark means a product is made from reclaimed and recycled forest material rather than newly harvested fibre, and that the material has been tracked through a certified chain of custody from recovery through to the finished pack. For paper, tissue and timber-based lines, it is the simplest way to confirm a product isn't drawing on standing forest.

Good Environmental Choice Australia is the country's independent environmental label, and its standards are built on ISO 14024 — the international reference for Type I ecolabels, the strictest tier of environmental claim. Products are assessed across their whole life cycle: raw material extraction, manufacture, use and disposal. Criteria also cover human health, social impact and fitness for purpose, so a certified product has to clean properly as well as make a lighter footprint.

Green Seal is a US non-profit that has certified cleaning products against life-cycle standards for more than three decades. GS-37 — the standard covering industrial and institutional general-purpose, restroom, glass and carpet cleaners — sets limits on ingredients of concern and volatile organic compounds, requires documented cleaning performance, and reviews packaging and labelling. Certification follows independent review and testing rather than self-declaration, and certified formulations are monitored afterwards.

The ECARF Seal of Quality is awarded by the European Centre for Allergy Research Foundation in Berlin, and has certified products, services and environments as suitable for allergy sufferers since 2006. Criteria are written per product category and applied by independent testing. For cleaning and laundry products the focus is on avoiding or minimising allergens, irritants and fragrance — precisely what triggers reactions in a sensitive building.

ECOLOGO began in 1988 as the Canadian government's Environmental Choice program and is now administered by UL Solutions. It is a multi-attribute, ISO 14024 Type I ecolabel: certified products are tested and audited by an independent third party against criteria covering the full life cycle, and certification is maintained through ongoing surveillance rather than a one-off test. It is one of the marks most often written into North American green-cleaning specifications.

The green-and-gold kangaroo is a registered certification trademark administered by the Australian Made Campaign, a not-for-profit. A product can only carry it where it was grown or produced in Australia and meets the campaign's criteria — for manufactured goods, that generally means the product was substantially transformed here rather than merely assembled or repackaged. The companion Australian Owned mark identifies businesses under majority Australian ownership.