We’re witnessing an industry shift towards greater efficiency and a more holistic approach to cost-analysis. Companies are increasingly looking at the total lifecycle costs of the cleaning products they select and the value they can add. When viewed through this prism, more sustainable options (which can sometimes have a slightly higher initial purchase price), reveal their long-term cost effectiveness.
Take, for example, our Toucan Eco range, which requires just water and salt to activate. The system enables an endless supply of eco-friendly antibacterial cleaner that’s virtually free and replaces the need for over 80% of cleaning chemicals, significantly reducing long term costs.
Meeting client demand There are further indirect cost benefits that more innovative and sustainable solutions can provide. With ever more clients incorporating stringent sustainability requirements into tenders as they look to reduce their own Scope 2 and 3 emissions, cleaning and FM businesses that have strong and credible sustainability commitments and practices in place are better placed to win new contracts and reduce reliance on price as a differentiating factor.
Subsequently, businesses are re-evaluating the products and systems they purchase as they look to reduce their end-to-end footprint. A system such as Toucan Eco not only removes the need for harsh chemicals, for example, it also reduces distribution requirements and around 80% of a typical user’s plastic waste.
Product suppliers are doing their bit to help businesses reduce their supply chain footprint too. For example, many of our essential products – from wet floor signs to buckets – now contain 70%+ recycled plastic content. In addition, we have also reduced the amount of plastic used in certain core products, moved to 30% recycled plastic packaging and recycle all end-of-life plastic. Taken together, these initiatives amount to 270 tonnes of plastic saved each year.
We are also looking at how we can reduce the emissions of getting supplies to our customers. We’re trialling ‘backhaul’ services for example, which means that instead
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of haulage vehicles travelling empty on the roads after a delivery, they return with a shipment over part or all of the route. Vacuum compressed packaging, meanwhile, is making our loading more efficient and reducing the number of journeys needed to transport products.
More effective teams Motivated, consistent, well-trained teams are efficient teams – and efficient teams are more profitable teams. With staff shortages across the industry, many businesses are also looking at how to improve staff retention and productivity to increase margins.
Again, more sustainable and innovative cleaning solutions can play an important role. Many of our Toucan Eco customers including Hive Cleaning, ESS and The Restaurant Group, have commented on how much their cleaning operatives enjoy working with the system due to how simple it is to use and the fact that it causes no harm or irritation on human skin.
Meanwhile, new innovations set to revolutionise the sector, such as our Meta-Scrub 60 autonomous floor cleaning robot, can truly maximise the efficiency of cleaning operatives. These cobots free up capacity for instances where a human touch is needed and allow employees to concentrate on the more skilled, nuanced and interesting tasks.
Commerciality and efficiency remain paramount for decision-makers in the cleaning and industries. Increasingly, they are recognising that more sustainable and future proofed products and approaches can deliver better long-term value for money. At Robert Scott, we are supporting the industry with innovative, lower carbon footprint solutions that can deliver better outcomes for cleaning businesses, their employees, and their clients.
www.robert-scott.co.uk TOMORROW’S FM | 25
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