Bridging the sustainability gap

SUSTAINABLE CLEANING has moved from a niche consideration to a growing priority for organisations across every sector. As environmental reporting receives greater attention and customers expect stronger evidence behind sustainability claims, the commercial cleaning products used to clean buildings are being examined more closely than ever before.

That scrutiny is only likely to increase. The UK Government’s guidance on Sustainability Reporting Standards sets out a framework designed to support more consistent sustainability-related financial disclosures. While the finalised standards are currently available for voluntary use, the government and Financial Conduct Authority are considering whether reporting requirements should be introduced for certain UK organisations.

This is a positive shift, as it has encouraged organisations to ask better questions about the products they buy and the environmental impact those choices create. However, the challenge is that the people selecting cleaning products are not always the people using them.

In many organisations, procurement teams and ESG leads are responsible for choosing products that support sustainability objectives, while facilities managers and cleaning operatives are responsible for delivering consistent cleaning standards every day. Both bring valuable expertise, but they often look at the same product through a different lens.

When those perspectives are separated, it becomes much harder to understand what makes a cleaning product genuinely sustainable in practice.

Looking beyond environmental claims

Environmental claims and eco labels can help buyers compare products and identify those that meet recognised environmental standards. As sustainability reporting becomes more prominent, they also provide valuable evidence to support procurement decisions. However, they do not always show the full impact of a cleaning product. A certification cannot show how a product performs across different environments, whether it reduces cleaning time, how efficiently it is used on site or whether it helps minimise waste during everyday operations.

It is also easy to assume that one aspect of a product tells the whole sustainability story. Plant-based ingredients are often perceived as the more sustainable option, but sustainability is rarely determined by ingredients alone. Naturally derived ingredients may carry impacts linked to how they are grown, harvested or processed, while some petrochemical-derived ingredients may make use of existing industrial by-products or support effective performance at lower usage levels.

Packaging, logistics and supply chain decisions can also significantly influence a product’s wider footprint. The materials used in packaging, the distances products travel, the number of distribution stages involved, and the storage requirements throughout the supply chain can all affect environmental impact before a product reaches site. A product that requires bulky packaging, long-distance transport or additional storage space may therefore carry a larger impact than its label suggests.

This is where the sustainability gap begins. A product can appear highly sustainable at the point of purchase while delivering a very different environmental outcome across its full lifecycle. Environmental claims can provide useful guidance, but they do not always capture the combined impact of sourcing, distribution, storage, usage and performance. 

As a result, the product that appears greenest is not always the one that delivers the lowest overall environmental impact. For facilities managers, this means procurement decisions need to look beyond visible credentials and consider whether a product reduces waste, resource use and inefficiency in practice.

Sustainability is decided on site

This is where facilities managers and cleaning teams become an essential part of the sustainability conversation. After a product reaches site, its environmental impact depends on how effectively it performs in use. If a product does not clean consistently, additional product use, repeat cleaning, and increased costs can quickly undermine any environmental benefit. Over time, inefficient cleaning processes can also contribute to fatigue, frustration and burnout, particularly in a sector already facing recruitment and retention challenges.

Equally, a product that delivers reliable results the first time can reduce product usage, water consumption, cleaning time and unnecessary waste. Those are outcomes that procurement teams may never see directly, yet they have a significant influence on both environmental performance and operational efficiency.

Concentrated products are a good example, as they can support more efficient cleaning when they are used correctly. However, the benefits depend on correct dilution, appropriate dosing systems and clear training. Inconsistent dosing can lead to poor cleaning results, repeat application and unnecessary product waste.

Therefore, the most sustainable product is not simply the one with the lowest environmental footprint at manufacture, but it is the one that continues to perform efficiently every day it is used.

Better decisions come from better conversations

Organisations are under growing pressure to demonstrate progress against sustainability commitments while maintaining high standards of cleanliness and controlling costs. Achieving all three depends on making informed product decisions that reflect both environmental evidence and operational experience.

Facilities managers understand how products perform across different sites. Cleaning operatives know where time is lost, where products are overused and where unnecessary waste occurs. Procurement teams understand supplier assurance, compliance requirements and sustainability reporting. Each perspective is valuable on its own, but together they provide a much clearer understanding of a product's overall environmental impact.

The organisations making the greatest progress are often those that bring these conversations together before purchasing decisions are made, rather than after products have already been introduced.

Environmental, social and governance

Mirius believes that the design, adoption and implementation of Environmental, Social and Governance policies adds value to our business. As a manufacturer of chemical products, Mirius is intrinsically involved in practices that ESG is intended to capture. The senior management team at Mirius made the conscious decision to review, approve and embed a raft of practices that allow us to purposefully move towards ESG best practice in the way we conduct our business. It is the goal of Mirius to position ourselves as a responsible leader of ESG in our industry on a global level.
What are we doing to make good on our intention?

Environmental considerations
As a business, we have begun the assessment of our energy consumption, carbon emissions, waste generation and requirements for wider resources. Working with external experts, we are measuring, reporting and, crucially, reducing our profile of these key criteria. We will announcement milestone achievements regarding our status and progress throughout our journey towards net zero carbon manufacturing.

Social considerations
Our business is the people we employ. Heathy labour relations, inclusivity in the workplace and an ethical management style are recognised as indispensable to a strong, loyal, productive workforce by the senior management team at Mirius. The wider community that we operate in is also of interest to us, hence our involvement in myriad community and charitable schemes that reflects our care for the surrounding society.

Governance considerations
High quality internal governance makes good business sense. For many years, Mirius has demonstrated robust internal governance through multiple accredited systems of practice, control and reporting. We are familiar with and adhere to the broad scope of regulations that govern our industry and in so doing, protect our business as well as our stakeholders.

A fuller view of sustainable cleaning

Green cleaning has helped move the industry in the right direction, but sustainability cannot be judged by labels alone. The environmental impact of a cleaning product is shaped by decisions made throughout its lifecycle, from sourcing and formulation to transport, storage and use on site.

As sustainability scrutiny continues to increase, facilities managers need procurement decisions that are supported by evidence and grounded in operational reality. Supplier data has an important role to play, but so do the insights of cleaning operatives and supervisors. If any government were to introduce required reporting, it would have to cover the broader picture from all perspectives to be truly effective and create substantial impact.

Closing the gap between sustainability ambitions and day-to-day delivery requires organisations to look beyond environmental claims and consider the full lifecycle of the products they buy. By bringing together procurement priorities and frontline experience, organisations can make more informed decisions that support both environmental goals and effective cleaning outcomes.

Darren Langdon is managing director at Mirius

For more information, visit https://mirius.com/