A SUSTAINABLE SUCCESS Cleanology explains how embracing change can reap the rewards for contract cleaners.


When London-based cleaning firm Cleanology decided to sign up for the ISO:14001 environmental management system, it had no idea that the process would result in industry accolades and major savings for both the company and its clients.


Six years later, Cleanology has revolutionised its driving fleet, embraced chemical-free cleaning, and dramatically reduced its annual volume of cleaning products.


The company has always treated the environment seriously but, in 2012, CEO Dominic Ponniah was looking for ways to engage employees, and ensure that all staff and suppliers followed the same procedures. Working towards ISO:14001 accreditation helped to define existing policies and identify areas for improvement. It has also helped Cleanology to innovate and develop a modern, resource efficient approach.


The approach paid off: in 2018, Cleanology won the Environmental Awareness category in the biennial Kimberly-Clark Professional Golden Service Awards. The judges said: “Whilst all the entrants demonstrated excellent environmental qualities, Cleanology was the one company that considered a fully rounded and complete approach to environmental considerations in their submission.”


Explaining the company’s green philosophy, Ponniah commented: “We are a small business that aims to have a big impact. Modern business


should be focused around the environment and, if it is done properly, everyone benefits. Our environmental initiatives help to make the workplace more pleasant for the people who work in them.”


Servicing a range of London customers including Harrods, Smeg, and the Good Housekeeping Institute, Cleanology is a family-run business which, like any cleaning operation, relies on staff travelling between sites. Switching to a 100% hybrid car fleet and providing company Oyster cards for staff has had a major impact on the company’s carbon footprint. Between 2016 and 2017, Cleanology’s company vehicle fleet increased in size by 16.6%, yet during the same period the overall fuel consumption decreased by 2%. Future plans include a switch to hybrid vans and the use of electric bicycles.


Another new policy introduction is chemical-free cleaning. Although biosolutions are not unusual, Cleanology scrutinised the volume of solution being used, and developed the industry’s first portion-controlled bio-sachets, and biosolutions for the cleaning of tablets and screens. The 5ml multi-purpose sachets are easy to transport and, over the course of a year, operatives used the equivalent of 108 litres of product. Previously, they were dispensing 16,200 litres of standard cleaning products per year, but this has given a saving of 99.4% of what would have previously been used.


12 | CONTRACT CLEANING SUPPLEMENT 2018


Ponniah said: “Biotechnology is a fantastic advance which has rightly been embraced by the industry. However, as with all cleaning products that require dilution, people often use too much product; they think that the more they slosh into a bucket, the more effective they will be.


“Using too much product – especially biotechnology products which are pH- neutral and completely safe – does not cause any harm, but it is wasting valuable resources. An extra cupful of solution every couple of days might not seem disastrous but multiply that over a year and across the 500,000 people working in the industry, and the impact becomes significant.”


Office management practices can also have a surprisingly large environmental footprint. Switching from paper payslips to ePayslips has helped to reduce paper usage by 24,000 A4 sheets a year. A plan to introduce eInvoices in 2018 is estimated to save another 8,000 A4 sheets.


Ponniah continued: “The key for us has been to scrutinise all of our activities, set measurable targets and monitor performance. It takes time, but the results are clear right across the company. We operate surveys at all of our sites and, as a result, from 2015 to 2017, electricity usage has fallen by 15.5% and gas usage by 10.8%. We are able to pass savings on to customers, and actively drive the business to constantly improve.”


www.cleanology.com twitter.com/TomoCleaning


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