FAQ - Ask Frosch

Brands & Formulas

What does "eco quality" mean?

For us "eco quality" stands not only for the formulas but also for the packaging, production processes and lots more. You can read the details in our Eco-quality in 9 aspects.

Are Frosch products vegan?

Yes, Frosch formulas have always been free of animal-based ingredients and are therefore vegan.

Are Frosch products tested on animals?

We care very much about the well-being of animals. Therefore, our Frosch products have always been made without any animal-based ingredients. Furthermore, our Frosch products have not been tested on animals in the past and are not tested on animals in the present. We are strictly against animal testing! Consequently, we have not conducted any animal testing or contracted a third-party to do any animal testing. Incidentally, animal testing has been forbidden in the development of washing detergents and cleaning products in Germany since 1998 (§ 7a (4) TierSchG). The EU cosmetic regulation from 2013 prohibits animal testing on cosmetic products.We know that all ingredients for laundry detergents and cleaning products might have been tested on animals at some point. However, we do not produce those raw materials ourselves, but obtain them from several different suppliers. The EU legislation (REACH regulation) obliges those suppliers to test raw materials one time before they are brought to the market to prove they are not harmful to human life and the environment. No one – not we, our suppliers or other manufacturers of cleaning products and cosmetics – can circumvent these tests. We therefore cannot rule out the possibility that the carefully selected environmentally and skin-friendly raw materials that we use were tested on animals in the past. However, we can assure our customers that our Frosch products have never been tested on animals!In addition, we do not export any of our products to countries whose laws require animal testing for product approval.

Does Frosch use microplastic in its formulas?

No. All Frosch formulas are free of microplastic. The entire range of products develops its full cleaning and care effect without microplastic (primary microplastic) and thus protects rivers and oceans.Microplastic should not be confused with synthetic polymers. The latter are water-soluable materials that are absorbed in water treatment facilities, so they pose no risk to bodies of water. Such synthetic polymers are used in Frosch detergents, for example, in the form of the dye transfer inhibitor PVP (polyvinylpyrrolidon), which protects colors from fading. Currently there is no plant-based alternative.

Does Frosch use palm oil in its formulas?

From the start we use plant-based surfactants instead of petroleum-based surfactants. The plant-based surfactants consist partially of coconut oil and palmseed oil from sustainable cultivation, but increasingly from European vegetable oils.To be exact, we use no palm oil, but rather palmseed oil, which is a waste product of palm oil. It comes from the last pressing and cannot be used for foodstuffs. Surfactants (wash-active substances) are manufactured from this palmseed oil.We don't see this as the ultimate solution, however, and continue our years of research on alternative raw material resources from plants. They include surfactants and soaps from Europe (e.g., based on olive, rapeseed, sunflowers and flaxseed) which eventually go into our products. Replacing the soap and surfactant system from one day to the next is not as simple as it sounds because the materials have a significant influence on product performance, formula stability, dyes and fragrances.

The Packaging

Why does Frosch use plastic for its packaging?

Plastic is a valuable material that offers many advantages. The goal has to be to put plastic into a closed cycle and to recycle it so that the environment is not strained even more.That's why our credo is: REUSE – REDUCE – RECYCLE.REUSE: We produce our bottles from 100 % used plastic and for years we have been promoting refill pouches so that our bottles can be filled again and again.REDUCE: Our refill pouches save up to 70 % packaging material compared to a bottle that holds the same amount of product.RECYCLE: We keep our bottles in a closed loop.

How much used plastic is in the Frosch bottles?

Frosch PET (polyethylenterephthalate) bottles are made of 100 % used plastic. Currently, 25 % of the recyclates (used plastic) comes from the for-deposit collection and 75% from the Yellow Bag / Yellow Bin system.Our Frosch Senses HDPE (High Density Polyethylene) shower gel bottles consist of 100 % used plastic from the Yellow Bag / Yellow Bin collection system. A world-first in cosmetics.

Why doesn't Frosch use glass bottles?

Glass packaging is not ideally suited for laundry detergents and cleaning products because glass breaks easily. That's why the cleaning products industry uses stable plastic packaging. But that's not the only reason. Glass is much heavier than plastic. To package one liter of liquid, you need about 500 grams of glass, but only 35 grams of plastic. That translates into more CO2 emissions in the manufacturing and transportation of disposable glass bottles and thus a clearly poorer Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). In 2010 the Institut für Energie- und Umweltforschung Heidelberg (ifeu) examined and compared the LCAs of different types of bottles. The researchers concluded that reusable glass bottles were not the most ecologically reasonable variant. In certain circumstances no clear ecological advantages or disadvantages were found in a comparison of for-deposit glass bottles and PET single-use bottles. In order to achieve good numbers similar to a glass bottle, a PET bottle has to a) be very lightweight and b) be made of a relatively high share of recyclates. Recycled PET bottles from Frosch satisfy these two requirements.

Why doesn't Frosch have filling stations?

A multi-liter filling station can be unsanitary. There's a serious danger that bacteria can pollute the cleaning product in the station. Then the consumer drags the bacteria home, where it can be spread around the kitchen and onto the tableware. Contamination can be prevented only by adding large quantitites of preservatives to the formulas of products in the filling station. At Frosch that is not wanted at all. We use completely demineralized water that we obtain from our own water treatment facilities. That allows us to reduce preservatives in our formulas to a minimum.

Then there's also the issue of the declaration. As the manufacturer of laundry detergents and cleaning products, we have to comply with the EU detergent regulation which requires that we provide detailed information about the contents of every product. That's a good thing because then consumers know which substances are in the bottle. At a filling station, however, a consumer could put a cleaning product in the bottle that differs from the original product. In that case, the product information no longer corresponds to the contents of the bottle.

On top of that, a dealer could supply filling stations with just one brand and a maximum of three or four products. However, we need a solution for our entire product range and not for just a few selected articles. We have found the solution in the use of packaging made of 100 % used plastic and in refill packaging. With the refill packages, a bottle can be filled again and again – so you practically have your own little filling station at home.

Why don't we introduce a deposit system for Frosch bottles?

The introduction of for-deposit system for cleaning products has to be regulated by law and the entire industry and the retail trade have to be involved. A completely new system would have to be introduced. For hygienic reasons, packaging for food and beverages cannot be collected together with packaging for cleaning agents. The expense for separate handling would be very high because the trade would have to acquire a certain number of devices and create sufficient storage space.

We manufacturers would also have to purchase new machines for sorting, inspecting, washing and rebottling. The plastic bottles would need to have a greater thickness so that they could be refilled 10 to 15 times; the caps too would have to be redesigned. Briefly stated, the cost-benefit analysis showed that a for-deposit system for cleaning products is neither ecologically nor economically expedient, especially because our Recyclate Initiative already uses the closed loop system created by the Dual Systems. Furthermore, when plastic waste from the Yellow Bag is processed, packaging from the foodstuff sector gets recycled.