Industrial laundering has traditionally conjured up images of huge complexes consuming immense quantities of water and releasing residual heat into the atmosphere but, according to Johnsons Stalbridge Linen Services, that is all very much n the past.
The image of hot and humid commercial laundries guzzling gallons of water and leaking heat should be consigned to memory, according to Johnsons Stalbridge Linen Services. Like virtually every other industrial or manufacturing process, industrial laundries have invested heavily in recent years to reduce their carbon footprint and to minimise the impact of their activities on the environment, both on a local and global scale.
Protecting the environment, reducing energy costs and minimising waste are top of the agenda for Stalbridge Linen, which is actively helping the textile services industry reduce its carbon footprint through continued investment in energy and water recycling systems. As a leading specialist supplier of table linen, bed linen and chefs wear for the hospitality, catering and leisure industries, the laundry service it provides to customers is a significant part of its offering.
We take our environmental responsibilities very seriously in order to protect the environment and the communities in which we operate, says David Hill, Sales and Marketing Director. Our environmental policy places great value on the importance of regular and continued investment in energy recovery and waste reduction.
On a global scale, Stalbridge Linen is fully signed up to the climate levy agreement and regulations which were introduced as a result of the Kyoto protocol in 1997, and which tasks businesses with reducing their carbon emissions from electricity, gas and solid fuel. In the year to September 2010, Stalbridge Linen actually exceeded the required savings and is currently running at -22.05 per cent against a target of – 7.5 per cent.
Closer to home, some of the Stalbridge laundries in the UK are now capable of recycling up to 50 per cent of their waste water with some, run by Stalbridges sister company Johnsons Apparelmaster, recycling up to 80 per cent. Even the cotton roller towels installed in the washrooms of Johnsons Apparelmaster, produce almost 50 per cent fewer greenhouse gas emissions compared to paper towels.*
Additionally, road routes for Stalbridge Linens vehicle fleet, which covers more than 4.5 million miles per year, are carefully planned to reduce repeat journeys and to minimise CO2 emissions. Parent company Johnsons Service Group is accredited and complies with the world class environmental management standards ISO 14001, for more efficient environmental management, while all chemicals used at these plants fall under the EU REACH (Regulation, Evaluation & Authorisation of Chemicals) agreement to ensure a high level of protection of health and the environment.
We have also developed a code of conduct around awareness of environmental and ethical issues, adds Hill, and are committed to only using suppliers that adopt similar principles.
Environmental legislation and the need for high levels of corporate responsibility will increase over the coming years; likewise our commitment to maintaining best practice in these areas for the benefit of our employees, customers and the community will remain as strong as ever.
For further information about the range of products and services offered by Johnsons Stalbridge Linen Services, contact 01747 857609 or visit www. stalbridge-linen.com
*ETSA/Oku Institut Life cycle analysis of hand drying systems: cotton v paper towels, 2006
