What does eco-certified mean?Updated 12 hours ago

Eco-certified means a product has been independently audited against a published environmental standard. Three things have to be true for the term to carry weight. The standard has to be written down and public, so anyone can read the criteria. The assessment has to be done by a body that is not the brand selling the product. And the certification has to have a defined term, with renewal and ongoing compliance attached rather than a one-off tick. For Koh, the eco-label that applies is GECA, Good Environmental Choice Australia, a not-for-profit ecolabel recognised by the Global Ecolabelling Network. Eight Koh products hold GECA certification. Universal Cleaner has held it since April 2016.

GECA stands for Good Environmental Choice Australia. It is Australia's only multi-sector ecolabel and a not-for-profit organisation, recognised by the Global Ecolabelling Network. GECA publishes sector-specific standards and audits products against them. The one that applies to Koh is the Cleaning Products Standard. It covers ingredient restrictions, including limits on substances classified as carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic to reproduction, limits on volatile organic compounds, biodegradability and aquatic toxicity criteria, packaging recyclability requirements, and ethical manufacturing and labour standards. Certification runs for a defined term and has to be renewed, and GECA can raise conformance questions with a licensee at any point during that term.

GECA publishes the Cleaning Products Standard at geca.eco/standards.

Eight Koh products hold GECA certification. Six of them are the liquid cleaning products, which finished certification together on 2 June 2026 at the end of a 21-month project. Those six are Universal Cleaner, certified since 5 April 2016 and the longest-running certification in the range, Bathroom and Shower Cleaner, Dishwashing Liquid, Kitchen Grease and Oil Cleaner, Sensitive Laundry Liquid, which covers both the 60 wash and 100 wash sizes, and Stain Remover. Two tablet products were certified separately and earlier, which is why their dates sit apart. Dishwashing Tablets has been certified since March 2023 and Loo Cleaner Tabs since 12 July 2023.

Eight, across two groups. The six liquid cleaning products finished certification together in June 2026, at the end of a 21-month project. The two tablet products went through separately, and earlier, which is why the dates sit apart.

Licence numbers for the June 2026 group are still being added to our product records. If you need the certificate detail for a specific product, our team can chase it up for you.

No. GECA's Cleaning Products Standard sets limits on volatile organic compounds. It does not require a product to contain none of them. A GECA certified cleaner has been assessed as sitting within those limits, which is a different statement from containing zero VOCs, and the two should not be read as the same thing. Some Koh formulas do contain an ingredient that is a VOC. Ethanol in Bathroom and Shower Cleaner is one example, and it is listed on the ingredient list. Koh does not claim any product is VOC free. The certification claim is that the product meets a published limit, assessed by someone other than Koh.

GECA certification is not a one-off tick. It runs for a defined term, has to be renewed, and GECA can raise a conformance question with a licensee partway through that term through a Conformance Action Plan. Koh went through one of these. In August 2026 GECA closed a Conformance Action Plan on the enzyme supply used in some Koh formulas, after Koh and its enzyme supplier Novonesis demonstrated there was no residual living microbial matter in the enzymes. Those products already held GECA certification throughout. It was an ingredient-level conformance question resolved on existing certifications, not a new certification being granted. It is a useful illustration that the standard is actively enforced rather than issued and forgotten.

Beyond GECA, Koh products carry four additional certifications, each covering a different aspect of testing. Sensitive Choice is a program of the National Asthma Council Australia and screens products for ingredients that may aggravate asthma symptoms. It is held across most of the Koh cleaning range. Dermatest is an independent dermatological testing institute assessing skin tolerance under a published protocol, and it is held by Bathroom and Shower Cleaner, Kitchen Grease and Oil Cleaner, Dishwashing Liquid, Sensitive Laundry Liquid in both sizes, Stain Remover and Sensitive Laundry Sheets. Universal Cleaner is not Dermatest tested and is waiting to be assessed. Allergy UK, the operating name of the British Allergy Foundation, runs a Seal of Approval program and is held by Universal Cleaner only, with the rest of the range waiting to be assessed. The Eczema Association of Australasia recognised Universal Cleaner, Bathroom and Shower Cleaner, Kitchen Grease and Oil Cleaner and Dishwashing Liquid in October 2025.

Four more, each covering a different aspect of testing. A product can hold one and not another, so the lists genuinely differ.

Everyone's skin and triggers are different, and no certification can promise a particular result for a particular person. What these tell you is that an independent body has assessed the formula against a published protocol. The current list for any product is shown on its product page.

Certification covers the formula, not how much of it you use. GECA assesses ingredients, biodegradability, aquatic toxicity, packaging and manufacturing. It does not assess your drains. Three rules apply to any Koh cleaner regardless of what it is certified against. Use only as directed, following the dosage and dilution guidance on the label. Never pour undiluted product into a drain, a septic tank or a greywater line. And avoid excessive use beyond normal cleaning applications, because more product does not clean better and it loads whatever system the water ends up in. If you reuse greywater on the garden, suitability also depends on your soil type, on whether you are watering edible crops or ornamentals, and on your local council rules, which vary by state and council area.