Prudential Now Largest Clean Green Designee

Posted May 30, 2012 at 3:04 pm



PRESS RELEASE
Contact: Ken Koepper, 703.519.0029, ext. 109; kkoepper@trsa.org

Prudential Overall Supply First Industrial Laundry Chain Worldwide to Earn TRSA Clean Green Certification -6/7/12

Apply for Clean Green Certification

Prudential Overall Supply can claim the distinction as the first industrial laundry chain to receive TRSA’s Clean Green certification. The 80-year-old, family-owned and operated company joins these other multiplant, multistate operations as pioneers of the designation in their industry segments:

  • First Clean Green interstate multiplant operator: Virginia Linen Service, Petersburg, VA
  • First coast-to-coast U.S. chain: Morgan Services, Chicago
  • First international healthcare chain: Ecotex Inc., Abbotsford, BC, Canada
     

Faultless Laundry Co. was the first multiplant operation 100% dedicated to healthcare to be certified, with plants in Kansas City, MO; Kansas City, KS; and St. Louis. Crown Linen Service, Nashua, NH, a multistate chain (serving healthcare, hospitality and industrial accounts), is the newest Clean Green designee.

A total of 19 textile services companies are now certified Clean Green by TRSA, mostly small independents with one or two plants. Prudential is the largest of them all with 27 locations. Others recently receiving the certification were Bates Troy Inc., Binghamton, NY (healthcare), and Superior Linen Supply Co. (hospitality and industrial), Kansas City, MO.

Clean Green recognizes companies that demonstrate responsible leadership in sustainability and conservation to protect the environment. The program acknowledges a textile service company’s continuing commitment to improving efficiencies in water and energy conservation and the adoption of best management practices for reusing, reclaiming and recycling resources.

Certified textile services operations meet quality standards for effectiveness in conserving resources, controlling sewer discharges and otherwise minimizing environmental impact. A business that uses uniforms, linens, floor mats and other reusable textiles laundered by a Clean Green facility can point to the certification as evidence that these were washed, dried and finished with techniques selected to maximize sustainability.

Industrial-scale laundries are most likely to meet Clean Green standards because they deploy high-capacity washing, drying and wrinkle-removal equipment, so their processes are far more efficient than those of home washing machines or smaller commercial laundries. To obtain the certification, laundries must document their efficiencies in water and energy use and deploy best management practices such as:

  • Recovering heat from drained hot water and heat dispersed from the process of warming water
  • Recapturing drained water from rinses for reuse
  • Using environmentally friendly detergents
  • Removing solids and liquids from wastewater
  • Solar energy and energy-efficient lighting
  • Recycling programs
  • Rerouting trucks to save vehicle fuel
  • Spill prevention plans
  • Preventive maintenance
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