American Cleaning Institute

industry wants to head collectively.” Sustainability is a high priority in the cleaning industry, with climate and packaging currently the main areas of focus. Our Future Is Clean, a campaign which showcases the cleaning product industry’s work towards sustainability, was launched in 2020, although this area of focus is not new for the Institute. “As an organization ACI has been involved in sustainability for over 15 years already,” Hockstad recounts. “We were one of the front runners when sustainability wasn’t even on many people’s radars. What we are really focused on is how we as an association can drive bold, collective action. We are working very closely with our members to harness that combined influence, and then seek ways to address the sustainability challenges facing the world today.” Working with stakeholders to eliminate all cleaning product package waste by 2040 is a strong goal of ACI. As Hockstad explains, “That is a combination of recycling and the types of materials that we are using. We know that cleaning product packaging is very important for safe transportation and storage of our products. Really what we are homed in on, in accordance with the principles of a circular economy, is to address the challenges around product packaging. How do we design out waste and pollution and keep materials in use while maintaining the packaging’s essential functions?” Ingredient communication is another focus for the organization, an issue which members have been actively involved in for several years. “What that means is providing information to consumers and customers about the ingredients that are in the cleaning products that they’re buying,” says Hockstad, “and not only what the ingredients are, but what they do, and the purpose they serve. What we’re really focused on is how can we make federal legislation for ingredient communication for our products. Our bottom line is, we want to reduce consumer