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:

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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