general - sustainable
Future Trend Report 16 / 2021-04-20
We use many personal care products when showering and bathing and household cleaning products, many of which have colourants in them. Even when washing our toilet, we use a cleaner that is often coloured. The colourants in these products have no effect whatsoever on the cleaning power of the products we use. Even though we can’t change the system of flushing potable water down the drain, we can at least make a conscious effort to no longer flush colourants with it as well
The enormous chemical process needed to make colourants is staggering, and in the case of shampoos, shower gels, and toilet cleaners, we only see it for a few seconds before it is flushed down the drain never to be seen again. It’s a split second of ‘joy’ that pollutes our drinking water, and enables a highly polluting industry, with no benefit to the cleaning capabilities at all.
The environmentally conscious consumer will start to notice this, and no longer buy coloured products. So what should the industry do? The final producer in the chain of cleaning products can simply stop adding colourants.
However, the colourants business itself has a big issue on its hands. They have to invent alternatives. The switch to these alternatives to colourants will not be an easy process. You need a clear vision of what the future will bring in combination with a deep analysis of your core business. It’s an intensive process, but we are ready to help you and your company through our coaching. An example of an alternative product might be an ecological ingredient that helps clean and is also coloured naturally. Deeper research is of course needed to find a new route for your business.
