Professional Textile Care: 24% CO2 reduction!

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the most important greenhouse gas produced by humans. Because CO2 absorbs the infrared radiation from the sun, it reduces the radiance to the space of solar heat that reaches the earth, causing the earth to heat up. This is called the greenhouse effect. If we want to limit global warming, it is therefore important to keep CO2 emissions as low as possible. This is being tackled globally by switching to a more sustainable economy. This goal can be achieved by switching to sustainable methods for energy generation, but also by saving energy. To meet the climate agreements, the Dutch government has set itself the goal of achieving a 20% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. One of the methods for achieving a 49% reduction of greenhouse gases is the LTA method for laundries, which has led to an extensive energy consumption of over 30% in the laundry sector over the last 12 years. For this reason the Dutch association Netex assigned TKT to execute a study on CO2 reduction of professional laundry & textile cleaning processes in the Netherlands! A brief summary of the most important result so far.

Home washing has a higher environmental impact

Energy consumption through home washing

There are several factors that contribute to the environmental impact of washing clothes and textiles. An important part of the environmental impact is the energy consumption needed to heat the water. Because home washing uses more water for washing, this results in a relatively high environmental impact.
An average person washes around 352 kg of textiles a year. With an average temperature of 41 ° C, this results in a footprint of slightly more than 96 kg CO2 equivalents per person per year for doing the laundry. This calculation does not take into account the hygienic quality of the wash.
In addition to a reduction in CO2 emissions, other aspects, such as water use, are also important for the environmental impact of washing. An average washing machine uses an estimated 44 liters of water per wash at home. This number is much lower for the professional industry, because a lot of water is reused in the process.

Energy consumption through professional washing

The professional washing of standard laundry is based on a washing process in a washing tube with a washing temperature of 40 ° C. Professional washing also takes into account the impact of collecting and returning the textile to the customer. For such a process, the footprint comes to slightly less than 75 kg of CO2 per person per year, taking into account a quantity of wash of 352 kg per person. Therefore, more than 24% CO2 emissions can be saved if the normal laundry were washed professionally instead of at home.
For water consumption in the laundry, FTN registered an average consumption of 7.6 l / kg in 2016. If we convert this to the size of an average home wash, this is 28.3 l / wash. This is a saving of more than 35% compared to the 44 l / wash at home washing.

Potential

The potential reduction in CO2 emissions from the professional industry is even higher. Nowadays it is possible to wash well and hygienically at 40 ° C. This means that if the industry gradually implements this process, the reduction of CO2 emissions for washing laundry that must meet certain hygiene requirements could even be as much as 60% compared to home washing!
There are new techniques for water consumption that even make it possible to achieve 2 l / kg. If the machines are gradually renewed and this is the standard in the future, it could lead to a water consumption of 7.4 l / wash and thus a water saving of more than 80% compared to the water consumption of 44 l / wash when washing at home.

Join forces to combat climate change

Conclusion

To limit climate change as much as possible, significant reduction in CO2 emissions is necessary. As an industry, we must contribute to this. Calculations have therefore been made of CO2 emissions as a result of the washing process as it is done at home and the professional washing process. From this it was concluded that professional laundry of standard laundry results in 24% less CO2 emissions than washing at home. This includes transport to and from the customer. In addition, with professional washing, a further 35% less water is used. If we look at laundry that is subject to specific hygiene requirements, professional washing will already reduce 40% less CO2. If we look at the future and the possibilities that exist with the latest processes and machines, the savings for this segment can rise to 60% compared to home washing.