Greenwashed and Overlooked: Why Cleaning Deserves a Closer Look in Your ESG Strategy

The below article was written by Biological Preparations and published in FMJ , online and September 2025 Edition, Page 18

As market expectations evolve, stakeholders are demanding more than just mission statements. Ethical consumerism is now influencing B2B purchasing, with buyers expecting genuine action not only in a business’s own operations but also across its value chain. ESG reporting (Environmental, Social and Governance) has become the go-to framework for communicating those efforts. In fact,  88% of publicly traded companies had ESG initiatives in 2020.

But while attention often falls on energy use, carbon offsetting, or community investment, one critical area is still largely overlooked: cleaning.

Cleaning is too often a tick box exercise. Yet it touches every area of a business, including its operations and wider goals, and can significantly impact  ESG strategies. Without a clear strategy, cleaning can become a risk, exposing businesses to reputational, regulatory, operational and financial repercussions. And even where ESG and cleaning are aligned internally, supply chain decisions can still pose risks through greenwashing.

That leaves modern cleaning operations facing a dual challenge: how to make cleaning a genuine strategic asset, and how to protect your progress from being undermined by greenwashing.

How ESG Links to Cleaning

First, let’s establish how cleaning links to each ESG criteria:

Environment: Plenty of cleaning products claim to be sustainable but still come packed in single-use plastic, contain petroleum-based ingredients, or get overused due to poor training and outdated systems. When you look across the full lifecycle, from ingredient selection and transport to energy use and end-of-life breakdown, the environmental impact can be high. Understanding exactly what you’re using, how it works, and its long-term effects is key to linking cleaning to environmental objectives.

Social: More research is revealing how cleaning chemicals impact health, not only of the cleaning team but of anyone using the space. For example,  QUATs are known to trigger asthma and skin issues, and VOCs (volatile organic compounds) can cause respiratory problems. One US study attributed 12% of work-related asthma cases to cleaning products. Social impact also stretches beyond your site, with ethical labour practices across your supply chain another key consideration.

Governance: Governance is about more than leadership; it’s about transparency and trust. And in the cleaning industry, many manufacturers are reluctant to share full lifecycle data or disclose key product information. That lack of visibility makes it difficult to track ESG progress or verify claims. Opening the door to greenwashing. Greenwashing, the practice of exaggerating or fabricating environmental benefits, undermines genuine ESG progress. In 2024, while overall greenwashing cases dropped by 12%, high-risk cases (those with serious environmental or financial consequences) rose by 30%. When suppliers exaggerate their credentials, it puts your business at risk: from eroded customer trust to legal action.

Improving ESG and Protecting Against Greenwashing

So how can businesses move beyond box-ticking and build confidence in their cleaning-related ESG performance?

One common greenwashing tactic is selective disclosure. For example, promoting PCR packaging or concentrated formats while ignoring the product’s actual environmental impact or ingredients. To avoid being misled, start by investigating the formulation:

• Petrochemical-based
  : Derived from crude oil with high CO₂e emissions.
• Partially “eco” or bio-based: A step forward, but often still reliant on synthetics.
• Fully biotech or biosurfactant-based: Fermentation-derived ingredients like rhamnolipids or sophorolipids are the gold standard. They’re biodegradable and support a circular carbon economy. Removing carbon from the air via plant growth and returning it upon degradation.

But ingredient lists alone don’t always tell the full story. That’s why reviewing the Safety Data Sheet (SDS) can offer deeper insight into a product’s safety and environmental profile:

• Section 2: Hazard classifications and precautionary statements.
• Section 3: Hazardous ingredients by percentage and classification. Vagueness here can be a red flag.
• Sections 11 & 12: Data on human health risks and environmental toxicity (e.g. LD50 and EC50 values). The lower the number, the higher the toxicity.

You should also expect transparency around ingredients (without compromising IP) and evidence of biodegradability and low toxicity. Trustworthy third-party certifications such as Global GreenTag, EU Ecolabel or EcoCert, can provide another level of assurance.

Beyond formulation, investigate other factors that impact ESG performance:

• Are the products manufactured using cold water or renewable energy?
• Do they use concentrates or sachets to reduce plastic and transport impact?
• Are they water and energy efficient in use?
• What waste and recycling policies are in place at manufacturing sites?

From supply chain transparency to real-world health impacts, cleaning intersects with every part of ESG. With more consumers expecting the businesses they support to take active and authentic steps, leaving cleaning out of the equation creates gaps that can no longer be ignored. As the market evolves, taking extra steps to guard against greenwashing is no longer optional, it's a necessary layer of defence for any credible ESG strategy.