So, with Regenex onboard, precious employees are able to focus their efforts on up-to-standard linen, saving time and resources – and much less stock goes to rag or landfill.


Don’t waste any resources: the new thriftiness pervading the laundry world


As you will know, laundry owners and managers are turning their attention to EPR, or extended producer responsibility – the EU legislation that’s progressing fast and certain to prompt huge change for any business that deals in textiles.


You are perhaps aware that EPR is an amendment to the EU Waste Framework Directive (WFD) currently moving through the legislative processes. When it’s implemented, operators will be billed for the costs associated with the end-of-life management of products. We are yet to find out what those costs might be, but the good intention to support circularity by cutting textile waste cannot easily be argued with.


Greater financial consequences of sending waste to landfill will be yet another incentive for laundries, hospitality providers, healthcare organisations and others to focus on binning far less – and put robust sustainability principles into everyday practice.


We’ve talked for years at Regenex about the wonder of thrift and thriftiness, the art of getting the most out of every precious bedsheet or pillowcase. Now this concept is moving into a sharper and more immediate focus.


At some point in the near-ish future, collection, sorting, recycling and disposal of all textiles in Europe will be chargeable. A final draft of the new rules is expected soon, then EU member states will have 18 months to set up their own schemes.


Forward-thinking laundries are seeing EPR as an opportunity rather than a threat – simply another driver to conserve resources and operate as ethically as possible. Saving money of course is a welcome benefit too, an effect of buying less stock and extending its lifespan.


www.tomorrowscleaning.com


Regenex has been in business for almost seven years now. In that time, we’ve seen attitudes to looking after resources – linen in particular – change rapidly. Laundry owners and managers used to ‘do their duty’ for the environment by recycling old textiles for rag, rather than sending them straight to landfill.


However, heading into 2025 this attitude seems very old fashioned, as the business world rightly demands ever-more stringent standards. Recycling properly is no longer the default treatment for waste material.


While recycling still has a place in the management of waste, it should not be a first-choice solution for textiles that would still be fit for purpose, were they not stained or discoloured. Re-use is a far preferable concept. After not using the earth’s resources to manufacture something at all, re-using that item for as long as possible is the next best option.


From a carbon reduction point of view, re-use lowers the need for new textiles, in line with the Hierarchy of Waste Management’s cautioning against unnecessary manufacture.


Re-use also cuts down on thirsty recycling processes which themselves require another round of water and carbon emissions. This part of the puzzle is often forgotten about by companies who are proud of their careful waste disposal methods.


As well as boosting environmental credentials, keeping the same stock in circulation for much longer leads to a month- to-month reduction in outgoings – particularly welcome amid the hard times I alluded to at the start of the article.


So, in conclusion, efficiency with staff time and thriftiness with resources – solid edicts for any business – will serve hard-pressed laundries well in the months and years ahead.


Regenex can revive up to 80% of heavily marked or discoloured linen as long as it is not ripped or torn. Call me on 07795693345 or email paulhamilton@bulmerandlumb.com to find out more.


www.regenex.co.uk TOMORROW'S CLEANING IRELAND | 19


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