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Carroll Company is the nation’s
largest manufacturer of private branded institutional
cleaning and maintenance chemicals. As an 87-year-old
organization and member of the International Sanitary
Supply Association, Carroll Company understands
surfactant chemistry and the cleaning technology
required to compete in the cleaning and maintenance
chemical industry. More than 20 years ago, the
Carroll Company established its posture on the
sustainability of the environment entitled ADVANTAGE
EARTH ® and developed a line of sustainable
products designed to reduce the environmental
impact of cleaning chemicals in the workplace.
Sustainability Considerations
Carroll Company has realized its
unique position to affect our environment, due
to its business model as a consumer of many diverse
chemical and packaging components. The Company,
and its employees have long been cognizant of
the serious environmental, occupation and safety
impact that could result from the mishandling
or misuse of the materials consumed in our manufacturing
processes.
For this reason, and because of
our concern for our employees and the Nation,
the Carroll Company has been acutely proactive
in managing environmental issues and reducing
our impact on the environment. Today, Carroll
Company continues to lead the market in sustainable
product offerings, training and support for such
cleaning and maintenance products. This Environmental
Initiative shall define specific areas where the
Company strives to meet this goal.
Company Policy Regarding the
Environment
Standard Operating Procedure CP-36
defines the Company’s policy regarding the
environment. It states:
Since the Carroll Company’s
inception in 1921, it has been, and always shall
be the policy of the Company to produce cleaning
and maintenance products while consuming the
least amount of materials, energy and labor
possible. In addition, the Company shall strive
to develop products and promote efforts that
will reduce or eliminate damage to the environment
and stimulate the health and welfare of mankind.
Further, the goal of the Carroll
Company shall be to continue to reduce the consumption
of materials, energy and labor; reduce the generation
of waste, increase the use of recyclable materials,
and develop sustainable products that are competitive
within current market constraints. This policy
shall be known to all Carroll Company employees
and described to our customer and vendor partners
as ADVANTAGE: EARTH®.
Carroll Company employees
shall support this ADVANTAGE: EARTH® policy
by striving to execute their work to the best
of their abilities in light of these goals,
and shall bring to their Supervisors or Managers
attention, any work that falls short of this
goal that is reasonably and economically justified.
Further, the Carroll Company shall clearly state
this goal to our customer and vendor partners,
and shall encourage their adherence to this
policy within their organizations.
Product Formulation
Certain chemical compounds have
been used over the years by the cleaning and maintenance
chemical industry which have, over time, been
deemed to be either hazardous to people or to
the environment. Unfortunately, many of these
compounds are also the active ingredients in formulations
that produce the best cleaning results. For that
reason, it is incumbent upon the Carroll Company
to isolate the chemical compounds that may damage
health and the environment, and to develop alternative
compounds that will produce favorable cleaning
results without the appurtenant dangers.
ADVANTAGE:
EARTH® Commitment
As one of the oldest and largest
private branded cleaning and maintenance chemical
manufacturers in the United States, the Carroll
Company has been a leader in a partnership with
government and others in our industry to understand
the limits of safety and performance of the chemical
products we manufacture for many years.
We are working to educate our distributors,
the consuming public, and each other based on
sound advice, not sensationalism. Many questions
about what is “environmentally” safe
or “sustainable” are still unanswered.
However, Carroll Company is pledged to learn,
develop and influence others as our technology
advances. Therefore, as defined in other sections
of this initiative, the Carroll Company has developed
our ADVANTAGE: EARTH® commitment which will
positively impact our environment by producing
cleaner air and water, reducing landfill demand,
maintain a safer, healthier planet.
ENVIRO
PATROL®
Over 20 years ago the Carroll Company
introduced a line of environmentally preferred
products. Since that time, we have developed and
refined the product offering to meet the various
cleaning needs of our customers while reducing
the impact of these products on our environment.
Currently marketed under our ENVIRO PATROL®
brand, as well as other private brands, the Carroll
Company’s sustainable products are EPA DfE,
Green Cross or Green Seal certified and some products
carry multiple certifications.
The ENVIRO PATROL® products
include neutral cleaners, glass cleaners, peroxide
cleaners, heavy duty cleaners, a wax and finish
remover, restroom cleaners, and a metal free floor
finish. The entire line is designed with the latest
sustainable technology specifically designed to
reduce environmental impact and health hazards
to users.
For more information on these sustainable
products view the ENVIRO
PATROL® section of the Carroll Company website,
or click on the brochure links.
ENVIRO
PATROL® brochure
Meeting the New Environmental
Standards
Due to heightened interest in sustainability
issues, there are now many companies competing
for leadership in developing standards for the
manufacture of environmentally sensitive cleaning
and maintenance products. Third party organizations
tout their lack of bias toward chemical raw materials,
manufacturers and distributors. Even though some
are formed as non-profit entities, most may be
seen as profit driven. The most widely known and
accepted of this group of standards organizations
are:
- Green Seal – cleaning formulations
(as well as others) are reviewed and tested
to qualify for the Green Seal logo. Manufacturers
that produce products that carry the Green Seal
must pay an annual fee for the right to use
the Green Seal logo, or must license the formulation
from those that do. Currently, Carroll Company
both maintains Green Seal certifications on
many sustainable products.
- Green Cross – a company
operating in a similar fashion to Green Seal.
Again, the Carroll Company maintains Green Cross
certifications on sustainable products we have
formulated.
- EPA DfE – The United States
Environmental Protection Agency has developed
standards for environmentally sustainable products
and review formulas in that light. Approved
products may carry the Design For The Environment
logo. As a governmental agency, no extraordinary
fees or licenses are required to be paid. Formulations
and samples are submitted for review, and if
approved, may carry the EPA DfE logo. Working
as a partner with the EPA DfE, Carroll Company
has developed many products that now carry the
DfE logo. It is our opinion that, over time,
the EPA DfE review and approval process will
become the national standard for sustainable
cleaning and maintenance products.
Packaging
At our three manufacturing operations,
the Carroll Company produces products packaged
in over 180 unique containers. We use recycled
or partially recycled materials for most of our
packaging requirements, and we are moving away
from bleached corrugated packaging to natural
corrugated packaging. And, continuing to increase
the amount of recycled material in a package or
the ability to recycle that package is a continuing
effort at the Carroll Company.
The Carroll Company operates a high
density polyethylene plastic bottle blow molding
facility that produces many bottles shapes from
quart sizes up to 1.25 gallons, all for internal
use. In 2004, the Company began using post consumer
recycled high density polyethylene in our molding
operations. Today, over 30% of quart bottles manufactured
for use in Carroll plants contain 25% post consumer
resin.
As required by our ADVANTAGE: EARTH®
policy, we continuously review packaging components
for possible reductions of sources of contaminants,
and strive to sell the virtues of such package
components to both our existing and new customers.
Waste Management
Carroll Company meets or exceeds
requirements for air emissions, handling and disposal
of liquid, solid and other waste materials. Including
recycling of cardboard, paper, metal, aluminum
and plastic materials not used.
Plant Energy Consumption
The Carroll Company clearly understands
the necessity for the reduction of energy consumption
in our manufacturing operations and has moved
aggressively to reduce energy consumption in view
of our ADVANTAGE: EARTH® policy. Measures
adopted in our plants to reduce energy consumption
include: Reduction of lighting in off, warm up
of operating, replacement of fluorescent lighting
in high bay areas with HID lighting, reduction
of natural gas consumption by product heating
boilers, more efficient use of energy consuming.
Transportation
Carroll Company ships manufactured
goods to all states of the Union (including Alaska
and Hawaii) as well as many overseas countries.
The efficient management of movement of Carroll
Company products greatly affects energy consumed
in their transportation.
Beginning in 2007, and in concert
with the ADVANTAGE: EARTH® policy, the Carroll
Company has adopted a plan to convert its fleet
of automobiles and trucks to more energy efficient
hybrid technology. It is unclear at this time
what the effect of such vehicles may have on the
environment, but the Carroll Company believes
that by adopting a leadership role in this technology,
benefits will accrue to Earth.
Environmental Accomplishments
For years a large number of the
Carroll Company staff has been active in promoting
sustainable issues in compliance with Carroll’s
ADVANTAGE: EARTH® policy. Our Regulatory Department,
assisted by our Plant Managers, has worked tirelessly
on the issues defined in this initiative, and
the results have been a success. Of the three
Carroll Company manufacturing facilities, the
southern California operation undergoes the most
scrutiny. To that end, the California plant has
received some of the more noteworthy accomplishments.
The California Integrated
Waste Management Board (CIWMB) recognized
Carroll Company as compliant, one of only 29 found
to be in compliance. We believe that being in
the compliant 3% of regulated California companies
delineates our commitment to not only meet the
requirements of the regulations, but also to the
waste reduction goals that the regulations were
designed to serve.
A recent award was given to Carroll
Company for compliance with the Los Angeles
County Sanitation District of that City
(LACSD) permit requirements, and for our efforts
to “help create a better environment”.
This award speaks to our commitment to either
meet or exceed federal, state and local regulations,
and to create a better environment where we live
and work.
In April of 2004, the Carroll Company
received an award from the United States
Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA)
for our formulation of a “no VOC”
glass cleaner, with the Carroll trade name Glass
and All Purpose Cleaner. We received one of seven
such awards in the State of California from the
USEPA.
Carroll Company Environmental
Initiative / Carroll Company, June 2008 |
