The American Cleaning Institute (ACI)

Goal: Contribute Positively

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We have a collective responsibility to support multi-stakeholder initiatives that contribute to sustainable business success and a better future for everyone.

Goal: Contribute positively to our shared future through supporting the UN SDGs.

What Are the SDGs

Created in 2015, the UN SDGs bring together government sectors, civil society, academia, industries, development partners and communities to ensure all human beings can fulfill their potential in a healthy environment. 

The diversity of the cleaning product value chain means our members all have their own critical sustainability issues and opportunities to contribute to the greater good. But by aligning activities and targets with the SDGs and by working together across and beyond the industry, we can maximize our impact for good, and do our part to create  a better world.

How Do We Engage With Them?

The goals provide an urgent call to action to end poverty and other deprivations, such as improving health and education, and reducing inequality while tackling climate change and preserving biodiversity. By aligning our Uniting for a Cleaner World framework goals with the SDGs, we have ensured that they underpin our community’s broader approach to sustainability. We see this wider, business-level integration as the next critical step for securing the future of the industry.

The spectrum of SDGs provides an ideal framework for our diverse members to take action to drive positive impact across their respective value chains. We support this incorporation of the SDGs by sharing tools with our members, such as the Corporate Compass and our Design Guide for Recyclable Packaging.

Since 2019, the number of ACI members that have aligned their sustainability strategies with the SDGs has increased by over 20 percent. 

We have mapped and benchmarked our own goals against the SDGs in this report to 
demonstrate our approach.

SDGs

Given the scale and reach of our industry, we believe that our greatest contribution to the SDGs as a trade association can be unlocked through collaborative action. With members’ varying priorities, impacts and opportunities, we anticipate that our contributions will extend  beyond the goals listed in our Uniting for a Cleaner World framework.

 

Clean the World

soap

ACI holds an annual fundraiser for Clean the World, a social enterprise that distributes recycled soap and hygiene products to impoverished people. Its work helps to prevent millions of hygiene-related illnesses and deaths every year. For our 2021 fundraiser, we had to reimagine our beloved Duck Race so it could take place online during the pandemic. Our first ever Virtual Duck Fashion Show raised $23,000 in support of Clean the World Foundation.

In 2022, ACI fundraising returned in person and our Duck Race was back in full swing, this time raising $30,000 to help Clean the World continue its important work. Additionally, attendees worked together to build over 1,800 hygiene kits for distribution.