"The Tide manufacturer aims to cut phosphates from all its laundry soaps within two years, a move that could benefit the environment - especially in developing countries."

"Procter & Gamble has told the Guardian that it plans to eliminate phosphates from all of its laundry detergents, including Tide, within two years.

It's a newsworthy move considering the sheer size of the company, which claims the lion's share of the North American laundry detergent market and more than 25% of the global market share.

But P&G already stopped using phosphates in laundry detergent sold across the US in the early 1990s as part of a voluntary commitment from the American Cleaning Institute, an industry group of which the company is a member. It also removed phosphates from its detergents sold in the Europe several years ago."

Erica Gies reports for the Guardian January 26, 2014. [2]