Innovation

Sparkling detergent is more efficient than other similar products in the market. 1 liter of Sparkling lasts 5 timer more than its competitors, becoming a product that helps saving money to those who use them. All this can only be achieved thanks to its high concentration trait, but also this detergent has a hypoallergenic construction, which helps to protects sensible skins from those who suffers of a certain type of allergy.

This special detergent has a certification by the National Polytechnic Institute of Mexico for its capacity to degrade in no more than 15 days. This means that once you use the detergent, its residues will not be in a sewer system, river or lake for more than a two week lapse.

Sparkling is “conscious cleaning” because it takes into account 4 critical aspects for their use:

• Makes cleaning easier.
• Don’t harm the environment.
• Helps saving money to those who use them.
• Where Sparkling is used, it is evident.

Inspiration

Francisco is son of a chemical engineer who had its home laboratory, since he was young he liked to be there. The inspiration, for what it’s his enterprise today, came along on the early 90’s. His family used to have a recycling system who served to local government trash collectors. The business recycled glass, plastic, paper, aluminum and other residues. This pushed Francisco to seek, together with his father, a detergent solution that can be biodegradable. After several years of experiments, they got to the first edition of Sparkling. Now a day, Francisco and his brother manage a enterprise who sell a particular portfolio of cleaning products that are produced and packed in a sustainable way.

Francisco decided to go on business in 2014, with a little production plant near to Mexico City. His products are sell only by Internet, but he is still looking to have a chance to sell its product on big retail stores.

Overall impact

The impact that this innovation has to do with the fact of conserving water’s quality in Mexico City by making water free of sodium elements which are the principal cause of Eutrophication.

These products will have a direct impact on water pollution, Sparkling cleaning products are not only just biodegradable, but also the containers are base made of recycled materials; which make even more interesting this king of business ideas.

Sparkling sold 7,000 products on average by year since its foundation. The impact of this product is far away of the desirable one. That’s why stories like Sparkling should be tell in other to make people more conscious, not only for the type of product but by the type of business that represents.

Business benefit

At first there were 2 persons doing all the job, including the production processes and sales, 2 years later, there are 7 people working directly in the company and about 10 more working indirectly (account manager, eventual people working on production, design team, and chemical engineer for new formulas, process and experimentation). By now, the company has 94 people in the distribution line and about 50 retail points where the products are sold.

Now a day, the company is a member of the Stainless Steel Mexican Institute by giving companies courses for chemical treatments with ecological cleaning solutions to the stainless steel, also the company is looking forward to build an alliance with the Canadian company Wlater.

The company has a policy to include employees as partners, give them acces to health private insurance expenses additional to the obligatory government insurance (IMSS) which is not as good as the private insurance we provide.

The company also does not produce trash in its production process since everything is recycled, for internal use, and the things that are not useful are sold to recycling companies and the money is spread between the employees.

Social and environmental benefit

Detergents are base made of “Sodium Ripoliphosphate”, ingredient which is used to soften water and prevent dirt from adhering to clothes, it also allows surfactants (grease solvents) to work more effectively by diluting grease in water. These substances when deposited into rivers or lakes contribute to a process called Eutrophication, this process consists on loading the water of lakes and rivers with phosphates. Normally the water that faces this phenomenon became oversaturated of nutrients increasing the growth rate of algae. By doing this, the algae grow out of control causing water to become cloudy and killing all living species there. It is believed that Mexico has at least 23% of the water in rivers and lakes polluted, and part of this contamination is due to the use of detergents. So the use of detergents like SPARKLING, can reduce the pollution of water in 3% or 4% (assuming that 90% of the detergents used in Mexico were sodium ripoliphosphate free). Imagine what this type of product can do to the rivers and lakes on Earth If people stop using regular detergent and start using sodium free detergent.

Interview

FRANCISCO LUDLOW BOSCH, Engineer