OUR INGREDIENTS

 

Our ingredients make boat cleaning more sustainable

We are championing the sustainable revolution in marine cleaning and it starts with our ingredients offering performance with sustainability. 

Here is an overview of the ingredient choices we make as well as a list of ingredients we promise NEVER to include. 

We use a careful selection of appropriate raw materials based on their individual criteria which allows us to satisfy all our goals in terms of product performance, economics and a lower environmental footprint.

All Ecoworks Marine products are manufactured to comply with EU (EC) REACH regulation and produced under ISO9001: 2008 standards offering full traceability.

We want our cleaning products not only to be safer for the environment but safer for the end user as well.

We aim to replace undesirable ingredients wherever possible by using blends of surfactants/ingredients that are more favourable in terms of aquatic toxicity, sustainability and biodegradability. 

  •  Eco-solvents,
  •  Plant and fermentation extracts,
  •  Naturally derived sustainable surfactants,
  •  Naturally occurring non-hazardous bacteria and enzymes 
  • Renewable and sustainably sourced raw materials
  • Formulated for the lowest possible toxicity and the ultimate biodegradability
  • Nothing harmful is left behind
  • No product or raw material has been tested on animals

We ensure that every product we design not only performs their specific job to the expectations of our customers but also to be the most environmentally secure product in a competitive market.

This means we use only the best and most secure natural ingredients available to produce a range that performs exceptionally well and with the minimum stress on the fauna and flora of our oceans and rivers.

Our ethos is to replace the more undesirable ingredients with sustainable or naturally derived versions and to use ingredients with a more favourable oral, eco and aquatic characteristics and generally safer non-hazardous and non-irritant profiles.

As a result and importantly for larger yachts and commercial ships by using our naturally derived ingredients our products are Marpol compliant.

A list of some of our ingredients include the following:

 Polysaccharide gum (thickener) Commonly used as a thickening agent and a stabilizer in food, cosmetics and cleaning products to prevent ingredients from separating.

 Potassium sorbate (preservative) is the potassium salt of sorbic acid. It’s a white salt that is very soluble in water and primarily used as a food preservative (E202).

 Lactic acid (organic acid) is a carboxylic acid, in industry, lactic acid fermentation is performed by lactic acid bacteria, which convert glucose and sucrose to lactic acid. Lactic acid has gained importance in the detergent industry in the last decade. It’s a good de-scaler and soap-scum remover.

 Citric acid (organic acid) is an organic acid and is a commodity and more than a million tonnes are produced every year by fermentation.

 Alkyl polyglycosides APG’s (surfactant & cleaning agent) are a class of non-ionic surfactants (soaps) now widely used in a variety of household applications.

Gluconates (water softeners/alkalinity builders) are produced by the fermentation of glucose. They are non corrosive, non-toxic and readily biodegradable.

Sodium Citrate (water softeners/alkalinity builders) are known as ecologically friendly builders for the replacement of phosphates. Builders, in addition to softening, provide a desirable level of alkalinity (increase pH), which aids cleaning. They also act as buffers to maintain proper alkalinity in wash water and help emulsify oily and greasy soil by breaking it up into tiny globules. They also suspend loosened dirt and keep it from settling back on the cleaned surface.

Eco-Solvent 1 (replacement for conventional solvent) is a mixture of vegetable extracts from renewable resources based on 100% raw materials from vegetable extracts and non-ionic “green” surfactants cleaning products. It is readily and rapidly biodegradable, carbon neutral and contains no environmentally hazardous ingredients. It is non-toxic to aquatic organisms and presents no signs of acute oral toxicity. It is not irritating to eyes or skin, contains no volatile compounds and has no flammability concerns.

Eco-Solvent 2 (replacement for conventional solvent) is derived from renewable sourcing from a bio-based feedstock manufactured using Nobel-Prize winning technology.

Enzymes get to work immediately, breaking down hidden organic based deposits at the source, ensuring optimal and sustained odour control. Enzyme cleaning is a fast-developing sector.

Micro-organisms

Bacillus subtilis are a naturally-occurring strain of bacteria which does not carry a hazard classification and is generally regarded as safe by the scientific community worldwide. Bacillus strains are widely used in biotechnological applications, some as probiotics for direct ingestion by humans and animals. They target the breakdown of insoluble organic deposits, effectively breaking down odours at the source and reducing scale build up in ship pipe work.

 

EXCLUDED INGREDIENTS

We promise NEVER to use the following raw materials in Ecoworks Marine products

Many of these have been used in traditional cleaners for many years. Many of these traditional, everyday cleaning products have a negative impact on human health and damage the environment. 

Look out for these on products you buy and we recommend to avoid them. 

 

Examples of materials we will NEVER include:

• Palm oil and derivatives
• Quaternary Ammonium Compounds
• Methylchloroisothiazolinone/ Methylisothiazolinone
• Chlorine-based agents (sodium hypochlorite)
• Formaldehyde
• (APEO) and other alkylphenol derivatives
• Methylene chloride		 • Benzotriazole and its derivatives
• 1,1,1-Trichlorethane		 • Linear alkylbenzene sulfonates (LAS)
• Benzene		 •  Monoethanolamine (MEA) and triethanolamine (TEA)
• Benzidine-based dyes		 • Phosphonates
• Ethylbenzene		 • Selenium and selenium compounds
• n-Hexane		 • 5-Bromo-5-nitro-1,3-dioxane
• Polyvinyl chloride (PVC)		 • 2-Bromo-2-nitropropane-1,3-diol
• Optical brighteners		 •  Diazolinidylurea
• Parabens		 • Formaldehyde
• Silicones		 • Sodium hydroxy methyl glycinate
• Nitromusks and polycyclic musks		 • Heavy metals**, including antimony (Sb), arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), cobalt (Co), lead (Pb) mercury (Hg), and tin (Sn)

 
• Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), diethylenetriaminepenaacetic acid (DTPA) and nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA), or any of their salts

 

For information on each of our products, see the Material Safety Data sheets, which can be found in each product description in the online shop. 

If you'd like to find out more about what makes are products amongst the most sustainable in the marine industry you can view our Sustainability Page.