EPA Updates Safer Choice and Design for the Environment Standard
On August 8, 2024, EPA finalized updates to the Safer Choice and Design for the Environment Standard. The revised standard implements sustainable packaging criteria and introduces a Safer Choice Cleaning Service Certification for cleaning service providers.
Created in 2009, the Safer Choice program allows products such as cleaners and detergents to carry a special label if they meet human and environmental health requirements. Products must meet both holistic and component-level requirements to be approved for partnership with EPA, which is renewable and lasts three years. Design for the Environment operates under the same standard and applies specifically to antimicrobial products.
Under the updated standard, primary packaging for certified products can no longer contain intentionally added PFAS. The revisions also require packages to either be 1) designed to be reused or 2) recyclable and made of a certain percentage of recycled content.
The update also inaugurates a certification program for cleaning services that use certified products “to the maximum extent practicable.” The agency says that it will consider exceptions on a case-by-case basis, including in situations where limited certified products are available for a certain product class.
Other changes include stricter requirements for pet care products and voluntary criteria aimed at reducing carbon-based energy consumption. The new standard does not alter the master criteria for ingredients or any of the supplemental requirements for certain product classes.
The update is the first revision to the standard since 2015 and the fourth in its history. New products must comply with the updated standard immediately. Existing partnership products must comply within a year after they are notified of the updates.