Sustainable Cleaning Initiatives

While Colgate has long developed its products to be safe for consumers and safe for the environment, we have joined other consumer products companies in Europe to voluntarily adhere to sustainability principles, most notably in the formulation and the manufacturing of our cleaning products. This initiative is carried out under the auspices of the AISE Charter for Sustainable Cleaning (AISE); Colgate-Palmolive is an active member of this association.

The AISE Charter for Sustainable Cleaning, is a common, voluntary approach of the home care industry, aiming to promote and demonstrate continual improvement in the industry's sustainability profile. The charter is intended to create independent standards to inform consumers that products marked with the logo represent companies that have voluntarily agreed to meet sustainability standards and to demonstrate a continuous improvement process regarding the manufacturing of their cleaning products.

Before joining the Charter, companies must submit to an independent verification process to ensure they are following the charter principles. Colgate-Palmolive Europe, covering 28 countries, was successfully verified and received official membership in 2006.

Since 2007, Colgate has participated in the US-based Consumer Specialty Products Association's Product Care program. Product Care is a stewardship program in which companies voluntarily develop management principles for each of seven areas in a product's life cycle from development in a research facility through product use and disposal.

While Colgate's commitment to continuous improvement in these areas began long before our partnership with Product Care, this partnership demonstrates our continued commitment to providing safe products with important health benefits while not adversely affecting the environment. Product Care's focus areas include the following:

• Product design
• Raw material purchasing and packaging
• Safe manufacturing facilities
• Promoting safe storage and distribution
• Providing useful product information
• Answering consumer questions
• Anticipating product disposal needs

In 2004, the U.S.-based Soap and Detergent Association (SDA), developed a set of Principles for Sustainable Development, which symbolize the industry's contributions to a better world through health, hygiene and wellness. Colgate is an active member of the SDA, and a link to our sustainability report is included on the SDA's website, Sustainability Central.