With its new Green Force® eco-platform, CRC Industries is meeting demand from engineering workshops, production facilities, maintenance specialists and industrial product distributors for degreasers, lubricants and other special-formulation products that provide reduced environmental impact without sacrificing performance.
Products carrying the new Green Force symbol are readily biodegradable, feature low or no VOCs (volatile organic compounds), and no nasty or environmental health warnings.
As a mandatory requirement, Green Force products must be readily biodegradable according to test OECD A-F (>60%). To provide some perspective: if the substance drips on the ground >60% must disappear within 28 days. The products must also meet one or more of the following three general criteria: low (<10%) or no VOC formula; >50% renewable material or bio-based product; >50% water-based formula.
In addition, all Green Force products must comply with a further five criteria, which are expandable in line with the introduction of new legislation. Products meeting the stipulations carry the Green Force logo on their label artwork with support provided by a certificate of conformity for auditing purposes, available for download from the CRC Industries website.
With Green Force, CRC Industries seeks to allay any concerns about so-called greenwashing. Due to a wave of near-future legislation affecting chemical-based products such as maintenance sprays, bulk lubricants and cleaners, so the risk of potential for incorrect ‘eco’ claims increases. Such is the concern that the European Commission (EC) is proposing a new law (Green Claims Directive) that encourages companies to make sure they only use products carrying verifiable eco labels based on scientifically sound and reliable methods.
Forthcoming legislation of note includes the EC’s Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR). Provisionally agreed, ESPR will drive more environmentally sustainable and circular products. In addition, there is a proposed revision to the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive (PPWD) to ensure that all packaging is reusable or recyclable in an economically feasible way by 2030. Also looming large on the horizon is the EC’s Zero Pollution Action Plan, which sets out a 2050 vision for the reduction of air, water and soil pollution.
The rise of such regulatory pressures may in fact mean there is scope for a future legal requirement to report emissions data on a per-product level. And it is a short step from having to report on it, to being taxed on it. CRC can envisage an EU initiative to either tax polluters or provide incentives to improve, such as the EU Taxonomy Regulation 2020 already in effect.
Ultimately, distributors, engineering workshops and maintenance facilities should seek out degreasers, cleaners, lubricants, greases and corrosion inhibitors that reduce environmental impact through verifiable, evidence-based criteria. Importantly, Green Force professional-grade formulations provide the answer without compromise in performance, allowing discerning end users to adopt high-capability alternatives that help companies reduce their environmental impact, fulfil their sustainability goals and enhance workplace safety.
