Mr. Boilwash
Thank you for clearing up the TAED situation with Persil's new formula. Have only seen the new packaging a local Miele dealer shop, and for some reason Miele USA insists on slapping an "American" contents label over the German version. The Amercian label only lists percarbonate bleach, and not "bleaching activator/TAED", as the old Persil formula/boxes.
Metaborate is made by combining borax with sodium carbonate, it has a slightly higher pH than natural borax. Interesting that Perisil has any sort of borax as borates are on the EU hit list. Perhaps metaborates are less damaging to marine and plant life than borax.
Read somewhere that TAED was a better bleaching activator for European laundry because of the long cycle times, and that NOBS (the bleach activator preferred for the North American market), suited this side of the pond because if it's faster action time, thus better suited for short wash cycles. Another interesting thing the article stated was that TAED supposedly did something to the washing machine boots of American washing machines, while NOBS did not.