At Chemical Solutions we believe in sustainable manufacturing. Our technical team have a huge range of sustainably sourced raw materials from which to formulate environmentally responsible products. We can produce Eco Choice Aotearoa Licensed cleaning products for you using surfactants derived from coconut oil, glucose (Corn Syrup) and other sustainably sourced natural materials.
Raw Materials
Our environmental product emphasis has been a strong belief in making the safest product formulations possible, starting when our company founder began sustainable manufacturing by successfully using sugar-based raw materials in contract manufactured cleaning products. A world first – right here in NZ!
We hand select raw materials that are safe for our staff and for customers. We look to use materials from sustainable sources and are in the final stages of replacing hazardous solvents with biodegradable materials with lower hazard profiles.
The Use of Palm Oil
There has been a lot of debate in recent times about the sources of various raw materials we and others use to make our products.
Surfactants, that play a critical part in most cleaning products are derived from a variety of sources. The traditional use of petrochemical-derived surfactants has come under fire in the last decade or so due to their “non-sustainable” (non re-newable) status and has led to looking at “greener” or more sustainable options – those that can be generated from farm harvested sources. Read more…
Premises
We decided to renovate an existing office/warehouse/manufacturing site close to Auckland, our biggest market, rather than a new ‘green-fields’ site on the outskirts of Auckland. This meant we’re closer to our end users with less distance for staff to travel. The office was renovated with double glazing and energy efficient lighting to conserve power. Recessed windows reduce direct sunlight in summer to reduce cooling costs – take a tour of our factory
Water
We have a rainwater catchment system used for the washing of mixing vats and to wash out containers to be re-used or recycled. With Auckland rainfall at 1240mm per year we estimate this to reduce our mains water supply usage by up to 40%.
Waste water is contained in a holding tank and treated prior to discharge to trade waste. Waste water is measured before discharge so we can compare year on year discharge against production output.
Energy
We monitor our energy use and look at opportunities to reduce or gain maximum benefit via economies of scale in production.
We doubled the number of clear panels in the factory roofing along with automated sensor lighting to reduce the amount power used for lighting. Our mixing vats are designed for thorough and efficient mixing, saving time and energy.
Packaging – Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Packaging is a huge component of our products. We encourage our customers to buy in larger container sizes to reduce the packaging to product ratio. We offer pricing incentives and quantity breaks to encourage customers to buy larger quantities to reduce the amount of fuel and packaging required to deliver the product.
We look to use packaging that can be re-used as well as recycled. Customers can send us empty containers for reuse. We have recycling systems in place for Plastic, Paper, Metal and Glass.
Environmentally Safe
Environmentally friendly or ‘green’ products are of particular interest to many customers today. We have responded to this need by producing our ‘Green range’ of products. Read more about how we can manufacture Green Products