Concept

“Green techniques” in linen, uniform and facility services are most often associated with improving efficiency and complying with regulatory requirements. Using less water and energy per pound of laundry not only contributes to protecting our planet, it controls costs. Minimizing discharges to the environment not only preserves clean water and air, it focuses management on long-term business success. Both are essentials to maximize sustainability and build laundry customers’ confidence that a linen or uniform service will meet their needs cost-effectively and continuously. Industry operators get third-party verification of their commitment to sustainability by earning Clean Green certification, which reflects their dedication to implementing as many green best management practices (BMPs) as possible. These are listed below (excerpted from the Clean Green standard) with the extent they must be performed to be credited toward the certification.

Implementation

Measure water and energy consumption. Standards for water and energy use per pound of laundry are based on a facility’s total volume, with separate thresholds for laundries with 1) 5 million total pounds per year or less or 2) more than 5 million. To earn Clean Green, laundries can meet these standards and demonstrate their use of many of the BMPs listed below; or perform more of the BMPs. Such performance contributes greatly to achieving the water and energy standards, although the use of newer, more efficient laundry and material handling equipment is more responsible in most cases.

Reuse water. This refers to technology or equipment that reuses, reclaims or recycles water. Included are systems that capture and reuse final rinses drained from washers; water recycling or reclamation systems that capture and recycle treated wastewater; and tunnel washers that use the same water more than once for washing linen.

Recover boiler heat. Technology or equipment that recovers heat produced from the facility’s water boiler system fulfills this BMP if it’s visible, in use, and designed for this purpose; for example, a stack economizers that captures “lost or waste” heat from a boiler’s hot stack gas.

Recover wastewater heat. Same stipulations for equipment visibility, use and design; eligible systems include “shell and tube” or “plate” heat exchangers that capture “lost” or “waste” heat.

Use nonylphenol ethoxylate (NPE)-free detergent. The federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sought to eliminate NPE in our industry but accepted TRSA members’ voluntary phase-out and alternatively implemented stiffer requirements for NPE use (but didn’t ban it). A laundry is considered “NPE-free” when its primary detergents are NPE-free as verified by their material safety data sheets (MSDS).

Remove solids mechanically from wastewater. Applies to technology or equipment using mechanical solids removal within a laundry facility that pretreats more than 50% of the total wastewater before being discharged to the sanitary sewer. Suspended solids (e.g., lint) are removed from wastewater, removing the associated oil/grease and biological oxygen demand (BOD) removal burden. Examples include shaker and rotary drum screens.

Use advanced wastewater pretreatment technologies. Applies to mechanical or chemical means with the more-than-50% stipulation. Technology or equipment must handle emulsified oil and grease along with suspended solids, BOD, metals and toxic organics. Examples include dissolved air flotation (DAF) systems and filtration systems (micro-, ultra-, nano-).

Use energy efficient lighting and/or skylights. These must clearly provide more than 50% of the laundry’s light and be certified as compliant with the EPA’s Energy Star program or other equivalent programs.

Use alternative energy. A minimum of 10% (individually or in combination) of the electrical energy used in the laundry must emanate from solar or geothermal technology.

Use vehicles powered by alternative fuels. Facilities must have at least 15% of their fleet vehicles equipped to run on alternative fuels, e.g. propane.

Recycle diligently. Eligible programs address at least three categories: hangers, cardboard and paper, bottles and cans, electronic waste, and waste oil. The facility must demonstrate these programs are used consistently.

Optimize fleet vehicle routes. Qualified software or technologies that maximize route efficiency (minimizing fuel usage and exhaust emission) include the Roadnet Transportation Suite, MyRouteOnline, and Route4Me.

Plan for spill or slug-discharge prevention. Separate written plans must be in place that describe procedures to prevent 1) spills or releases of hazardous substances into the environment or 2) discharges of a non-routine, episodic nature.

Conduct preventive boiler maintenance. Maintenance of a boiler or direct-fired hot water heating systems must be as prescribed by the manufacturer or appropriate regulatory requirement, with records kept of when preventive maintenance was conducted and the name, address, phone number, and contact person of the organization who performed it.

Practical Applications

AmeriPride Services became the largest linen, uniform and facility services organization to receive Clean Green in 2014. With nearly 100 laundries requiring documentation of compliance with the standard, Vice President Brian Keegan hailed the certification process for helping the company “become more disciplined and improve operational performance by developing a uniform, consistent approach to our processes.” Certification also supports Minneapolis-based AmeriPride’s marketing by differentiating the company from the competition and providing valuable, third-party verification of our commitment to the environment. Sales and service teams actively educate customers and prospects about the certification and respond to increasing requests from businesses to present evidence of sustainability efforts. “And it helps us build trust and credibility with our employees and communities by demonstrating that we adhere to the highest environmental standards,” Keegan said.

Prudential Overall Supply (POS) was the first chain industrial laundry operation to be honored with the designation in 2012. The Irvine, CA-based company had long been heralded for exemplary performance in conserving resources and controlling discharges. Throughout the previous decade, as the linen, uniform and facility services industry developed benchmarks for measuring such efforts, Prudential proved its above-average capabilities in minimizing a laundry’s carbon footprint. Recertified in 2015, POS showcases Clean Green with customers and suppliers, contributes executives’ expertise to TRSA to encourage the certification’s growth and remains focused on the standards through continuous improvement.