WASTE MANAGEMENT
Rethinking washroomwaste Here, Kimberly-Clark Professional introduce us to the next step in sustainable cleaning.
Sustainability has become one of the most pressing issues for the cleaning and facilities management sectors. Clients want to make quicker progress, and service providers are expected to deliver more than spotless environments by supporting carbon reduction, resource efficiency and the wider sustainability agendas of the organisations they serve.
The washroom, once treated as a simple hygiene space, now sits at the centre of that shift. It is where environmental impact is most visible, most measurable and most immediately improved. For years, cleaning teams have focused on delivering consistent hygiene standards, often under tight operational and commercial pressures while sustainability was usually handled elsewhere in the organisation. Today, the two priorities are more closely linked.
Washrooms are high-footfall, high-consumption areas that generate a vast amount of waste daily. Much of it, especially paper towels, enters the bin within seconds of use. So, this makes them an ideal proving ground for circularity. By designing out waste and putting recovery systems in place, cleaning teams can achieve quick wins that support long- term environmental goals.
Across the UK and Europe, legislation is tightening, with Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes, waste- to-landfill targets, plastic restrictions and carbon reporting frameworks reshaping expectations. Clients increasingly want visible sustainability improvements built into their service contract, and ESG performance now influences procurement decisions as much as price or delivery. In this context, circularity is no longer a bonus: it is becoming a basic expectation for organisations committed to reaching net zero.
This is driving a significant rethink of how washrooms are designed, stocked and serviced. The outdated take-make- dispose model is being replaced by solutions that minimise consumption, recover materials and reduce carbon. Even simple product changes can deliver major benefits. For example, controlled dispensing systems for paper towels –
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still proven to be the most hygienic hand-drying method – regulate usage to one sheet per pull. This reduces unnecessary consumption, extends refill intervals and cuts waste volumes without compromising hygiene.
In one major roll-out across nine hospitals, switching to Kimberly-Clark Professional’s controlled dispensing helped cut paper usage by 23m metres, delivered £394,603 in savings and eliminated more than 1.1m individual refill actions in just six months.
These are the kinds of operational gains that understandably resonate with today’s frontline cleaning teams. Bins fill more slowly when towel usage is controlled, which means fewer disruptive waste collections during peak hours. Predictable refill intervals help teams plan their routes more efficiently, reducing the stop-start nature of traditional washroom servicing. Overflow issues drop, reactive callouts fall and washroom checks become more purposeful. By cutting unnecessary tasks and smoothing out the workflow, circular solutions give cleaning teams more time to focus on delivering a consistently high standard of hygiene where it matters most.
Going beyond efficiency
While efficiency improvements are essential, they only tackle part of the issue. The next step is addressing the waste itself. Traditionally, used paper towels and hygiene dispensers have been considered difficult, if not impossible, to recycle at scale. Most have ended up in landfill or incineration, contributing to carbon emissions and ongoing waste handling costs. The sector has long needed a solution that can turn washroom waste into something of value, rather than a continuous expense.
That is where circular recovery programmes have begun to reshape expectations, and where Kimberly-Clark Professional’s ReNew Programme plays a pivotal role. ReNew is an evolution of the company’s award-winning RightCycle Programme, which has already helped more than 400 customers turn waste into recoverable resources.
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