Cleaning Products (500ml Bottle)

Material Composition Assumptions

The default bill of materials for a representative 500ml household cleaning product (e.g., all-purpose spray cleaner, approximately 500 g product weight plus ~40 g packaging) includes:

Formulation (~500 g liquid):

• Surfactants: 5–10% by formulation weight (~25–50 g). Primarily anionic surfactants (e.g., linear alkylbenzene sulphonate, LAS) and non-ionic surfactants (e.g., alcohol ethoxylates, AE). Derived from petrochemical feedstocks (benzene, ethylene oxide, fatty alcohols).
• Solvents and co-solvents: 5–15% (~25–75 g). Typically isopropanol or ethanol (may be bio-based) and propylene glycol ethers.
• Builders and chelating agents: 2–5% (~10–25 g). Citric acid, EDTA, or phosphonates.
• Preservatives and biocides: <1% (~2–5 g). Methylisothiazolinone (MIT), benzalkonium chloride.
• Fragrance: 0.5–2% (~2.5–10 g). Complex mixtures of synthetic aromatic compounds.
• Water: 70–85% balance (~350–425 g). Demineralised water.

Packaging (~40–60 g):

• HDPE bottle: Approximately 25–35 g (natural HDPE or coloured). May include recycled post-consumer resin (PCR) at 0–50% depending on producer.
• Polypropylene cap and trigger: 10–15 g (trigger sprayer for spray formats; simple cap for refill formats).
• Pressure-sensitive label: 2–3 g (polypropylene or paper-based).

Surfactant synthesis is the largest emission hotspot because petrochemical feedstocks carry significant embedded carbon from crude oil refining and chemical processing. Bio-based surfactants (from coconut oil, palm kernel oil, or sugarcane) are increasingly available and carry different — though not necessarily lower — lifecycle emission profiles depending on land-use change accounting.

Manufacturing Geography

Cleaning product manufacturing is highly regionalised, with blending and filling typically occurring in or near the target market to minimise finished-goods transport of water-heavy products.

• EU: Major production in Germany, France, UK, Netherlands, and Italy. Grid intensity ~300 gCO2e/kWh. Chemical raw material supply chains are well-established within the European petrochemical cluster (Rotterdam, Antwerp, Rhine-Ruhr).
• USA: Concentrated in the Midwest and Southeast. Grid intensity ~390 gCO2e/kWh. Large brands (P&G, SC Johnson, Henkel) operate regional manufacturing networks.
• China: Growing domestic market and export production. Grid intensity ~565 gCO2e/kWh. China is a major producer of chemical intermediates (surfactant precursors) used globally.

Surfactant manufacturing typically occurs at dedicated chemical plants (BASF, Dow, Stepan, Sasol) separate from the cleaning product blending facilities. This upstream supply chain is the dominant emission source and spans multiple geographies.

Regional Variation

Region	Grid Intensity	Estimated Score Adjustment
EU average	~300 gCO2e/kWh	Baseline (small Scope 2 effect)
USA average	~390 gCO2e/kWh	+2% total (adds ~0.02 kgCO2e)
China	~565 gCO2e/kWh	+6% total (adds ~0.05 kgCO2e)
Nordic (renewable-heavy)	~30 gCO2e/kWh	-2% total (saves ~0.016 kgCO2e)
India	~700 gCO2e/kWh	+8% total (adds ~0.064 kgCO2e)

Note: Scope 2 (blending and filling electricity) accounts for only ~10% of total emissions. The dominant driver is Scope 3 — upstream chemical feedstocks and HDPE packaging. Regional grid variation at the blending facility has a minimal effect on the total score. The higher-impact variable is the surfactant chemistry chosen (petrochemical vs. bio-based) and the packaging’s recycled content rate.

Provenance Override Guidance

A supplier or manufacturer may override the default CCI score by submitting:

1. Product-level lifecycle assessment (LCA) per ISO 14040/14044 or PCF per ISO 14067, covering the specific formulation and packaging configuration. Ideally third-party verified by an accredited body (e.g., Bureau Veritas, Carbon Trust, TUV).
2. Surfactant origin and emission factor documentation — bio-based surfactant certificates (RSPO for palm derivatives, ISCC for sugarcane) with verified emission factors from the surfactant supplier.
3. Recycled content certification for HDPE bottle — PCR content percentage with chain-of-custody documentation. Recycled HDPE has an emission factor of approximately 0.5–0.8 kgCO2e/kg vs. 1.9–2.2 kgCO2e/kg for virgin HDPE.
4. Concentrated or solid format data — Concentrated refills, powder formats, or solid cleaning tablets have significantly lower emissions per functional dose due to reduced water content and smaller packaging. Verified dose-equivalent footprints are accepted.
5. Renewable energy certificates (RECs) for manufacturing and blending facilities.

Major FMCG brands (Unilever, P&G, Henkel, SC Johnson) are increasingly publishing product-level PCF data as part of their Scope 3 reduction commitments.

Methodology Notes

• CCI score of 0.8 kgCO2e represents a conservative mid-range estimate for a standard 500ml all-purpose cleaner with petrochemical surfactants and a virgin HDPE bottle. Actual scores vary widely — from approximately 0.3 kgCO2e for concentrated bio-surfactant refills to over 1.2 kgCO2e for complex multi-functional cleaners in heavy packaging.
• Scope breakdown: Scope 3 dominates at ~85% (0.68 kgCO2e), driven primarily by surfactant synthesis (~42%) and HDPE bottle production (~22%). Scope 2 (blending facility electricity) accounts for ~10% (0.08 kgCO2e). Scope 1 (direct energy use in blending) is ~5% (0.04 kgCO2e).
• Functional unit: One 500ml bottle of all-purpose household cleaning product, cradle-to-gate. Performance-equivalent comparisons (e.g., concentrated vs. ready-to-use) should normalise to cleaning dose rather than volume.
• Low confidence rating reflects significant formulation variability across product categories (bathroom cleaners, kitchen cleaners, floor cleaners, disinfectants, glass cleaners), limited publicly available third-party verified LCA data for specific SKUs, and high sensitivity to surfactant chemistry choices that are not typically disclosed on product labels.
• Data gap — fragrance: Fragrance compounds are a meaningful emission hotspot (~16% of total) but their precise chemical composition is proprietary. Emission factors are estimated using generic aromatic compound averages rather than product-specific data.
• Water content: The high water content (~75–80% of formulation) means per-litre scores are low in absolute terms, but the per-kg score of 1.6 kgCO2e/kg reflects the relatively high emission intensity of the dry chemical content.