New Tork foam soap successfully combines high usability with sustainability

A reliable hand cleanser and sanitizer, that is gentle and effective, easy to use and suitable to a vast majority, a solution that is also a better alternative considering both economic and environmental factors – is it even possible? With innovative and creating thinking at SCA it has been made possible in the Tork Premium Antimicrobial Foam Cleanser.

Gothenburg hosts one of SCA’s global units for research and development. Close collaborations with both University of Gothenburg and Chalmers University of Technology are well-established. In fact, SCA is the largest company outside of the USA operating in the field of professional care hygiene products, characterised by over 50 years of research and development.
Functionality, design, affordability and usability are important aspects that influence the research and development activities of SCA Hygiene Products overall, and all aspects are evident in the new Tork foam soap.

Usability is key
The aim of SCA Hygiene Products is to deliver new solutions to existing problems by introducing new products as well as redesigning and redefining well-established brands to suit a broad profile of users where both hygiene and environmental impact are key factors.
The new Tork Premium Antimicrobial Foam Cleanser manifests the company’s core ambition by combining both aspects – it meets the hygiene requirements and the environmental goals, while at the same time providing a high usability with a carefully designed dispenser requiring low push-force. This makes the product ideal for a broad range of users, including for example children and the elderly.
Peter Bergman, Global Technical Innovation Manager at SCA, outlines the easy to use qualities of the new product:
“One of the most important factors that we consider is usability. Our solutions must be easy to use in order to suit a broad majority, including children and people with limited hand strength for example. Therefore we have worked closely with the Swedish Rheumatism Association in order to develop the Tork foam soap with suitable dispensers providing the exact dose without requiring significant force from the user”.
The formula successfully combines an antimicrobial function with soap’s cleansing ability. The result is an efficient and comfortable product for use in many environments, including schools, day-care centres and hospitals. The low-ethanol formulation is also a better alternative to many other solutions available considering the environmental aspect.

Better hygiene, better environmental solutions
SCA is the largest private forest owner in Europe, sustainability issues are therefore embedded into the daily routines and work in all SCA companies. “When we embark on a new project, increased hygiene and better solutions for the environment are the two key preliminaries that we consider. The new Tork foam soap is a perfect example of this, as it combines high functionality with the best possible environmental solution”, explains Jennie Andersson, Material Development Chemical Formulations Director at SCA Hygiene Products.
“Eco-labels are important to us; we strive to give more by using fewer resources. Eco-labels are also rare for this kind of product, at least in Europe. We try to inspire further development in an ambition to support eco-labels and for these values to become widely integrated within the personal hygiene business in future”, she concludes.