How ethical is Ecover?
Our research highlights several ethical issues with Ecover, including its approach to climate change, environmental reporting, and supply chain management.
We also highlight its relationship with parent company SC Johnson, which lost a full mark in our animal testing rating. SC Johnson also lost whole marks in categories including Palm Oil Sourcing, Environmental Reporting, Likely Use of Tax Avoidance Strategies, and Pollution & Toxics.
Ecover was previously an Ethical Consumer Best Buy brand but, since its takeover by SC Johnson, its ethical rating has dropped significantly so we no longer recommend Ecover (see which cleaning brands we do recommend in our ethical cleaning products shopping guide). SC Johnson also owns Method, Duck and Mr Muscle.
Below we outline some of these issues with Ecover and SC Johnson. To see the full detailed stories, and Ecover’s overall ethical rating, please sign in or subscribe.
Is Ecover vegan and cruelty-free?
Ecover states that its products contain no animal ingredients. Ecover is also certified by Leaping Bunny – a very stringent no animal testing certification.
However, Ecover is subject to a boycott call by the organisation NatureWatch because of its parent company SC Johnson’s approach to animal testing.
SC Johnson receives our worst rating for its approach to animal testing. It does not have any 'no animal testing' certifications, and in fact actively test on animals, only working to reduce the number of tests. It doesn't have any of the more stringent policies that help companies avoid animal testing, such as a Fixed Cut Off Date.