SUSTAINABILITY
Making sustainable progress in washrooms
Joel Quick, Sustainability Manager at Northwood Hygiene Products, looks at how washrooms can help businesses catch up with their sustainability commitments by adopting a circular economy.
Governments across the globe are cracking down on their expectations around sustainability, putting added pressure on businesses to minimise waste, reduce carbon emissions and control energy usage, whilst also showing measurable progress towards sustainability. Buildings account for over 30% of global energy
demand and nearly 40% of carbon emissions, and the way these buildings are managed can have a huge impact on meeting sustainability goals.
What does circularity mean?
A circular economy is a closed-loop system aimed at eliminating waste and preserving the earth’s resources. It prioritises the re-use of materials, prevents the overextraction of natural resources and reduces the number of usable materials that end up in landfill. It’s a resilient system that’s good for people, business and the environment.
When it comes to washrooms, businesses can adopt this approach by using products that are part of the circular economy.
So, for example, instead of disposing of used paper hand towels from washrooms, these towels can be collected separately and recycled to make new material for the production of new hygiene paper. As well as significantly reducing waste, using this type of paper towel also minimises the need for fresh pulp fibre.
How does Northwood contribute
to circularity? As a true UK manufacturer with a domestic supply chain, Northwood is proud to now manufacture more than 95% of its paper products in the UK. We’re part of the full circle economy, which means that we’re involved throughout the supply chain – raw material supply, manufacturing, end user product converting, storage and transportation.
That’s a huge advantage because reduced waste and longer cycles mean less input of new raw materials into the loop, which in turn reduces the impact on the environment. This means we are very well placed to help customers achieve their sustainability goals by delivering a unique cradle to grave process for them.
Our established Northwood companies are involved at every stage in the supply chain.
We’re able to provide warehousing and distribution services for waste paper, parent reels and finished products, as well as converting and supplying professional paper hygiene products for both the retail and away from home market. We also supply both recycled and pure pulp parent reels and manufacture various grades of tissue and towel parent
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reels and recycled wastepaper. Our recycling division also recovers, collects and processes wastepaper.
We are a true circular manufacturer – no other manufacturer is able to provide this comprehensive end-to- end service.
Furthermore, by minimising the import of products from overseas and not transporting raw materials or products unnecessarily in the UK, we’re also able to significantly reduce the number of miles goods must travel, which means our products are more sustainable.
Where does responsible sourcing come
into circularity? Responsible sourcing is all about purchasing products which are renewable, biodegradable, recyclable or have high recycled content. It aims to reduce the carbon footprint, water usage and pollution throughout supply chains with the aim of delivering a closed-loop system where products and materials can be continuously reused or recycled.
Washrooms should be as sustainable as possible, so my advice would always be to partner with an environmentally- conscious provider. Choose suppliers which use Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified base sheet paper and have products made from recycled content. Examine their packaging and how they’re reducing the amount of plastic they use.
Northwood is committed to sustainable and responsible sourcing and uses FSC-certified paper, as well as offering 100% recycled paper options. Furthermore, all packaging – including plastic – is fully recyclable.
Sustainable washrooms are more than the products and consumables they contain. They are defined by how the circular economy functions, and a few small changes can add up to a big impact.
For further information, please visit the website below or call 01952 236 930.
www.northwood.co.uk x.com/TomoCleaning
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