Eco-Smart
AWARDED ECO-SMART OPERATION
ECO-SMART
At Washtub, we passionately believe that being environmentally responsible is a necessity to ensure the growth and sustainability of our company. Guided by our business value of being conscious of people, the planet and prosperity, we are committed to preserving the environment we live and work in by striving to minimise the effect of our processes by utilising best practices and advanced technologies.
In our Eco-Smart work environment, we practice a culture where our employees are environmentally-conscious and have grown to become sustainability warriors in society, leading to a positive impact in the communities in which we do business and safeguarding the environment for future generations.
Washtub is the first industrial laundry in Africa to have embarked on a carbon footprint analysis and we are extremely honoured that our statistics are being used as the benchmark against which the rest of Africa is being measured. It is very important to us that we continue to be as Eco-Smart as possible, and with this goal in mind, we have invested in technologies that enable us to continuously reduce our carbon footprint.
Washtub is very proud to be the first and the only laundry operation in South Africa to receive the prestigious PERA Award for green business.
BENEFITS TO OUR CLIENTS
- Our clients experience the tangible result of promised linen longevity with the knowledge that we do not, and never will, use chemicals which will harm your linen and garment integrity.
- Peace of mind that our clients can proudly align their own green business objectives to the daily delivery of our environmentally responsible operation. Or they are most welcome to promote alignment to Washtub, who is actively environmentally responsible — and acknowledged as such by the receipt of numerous sustainable business awards.
MATERIALS
At every opportunity, we promote the recycling of paper, materials, plastic and the use of biodegradable products. Our bulk detergent containers are made of biodegradable plastic and are continuously recycled. We use coal instead of wood to fire our hard working boilers to continuously reduce waste in fossil fuel usage.
CHEMICALS
- We only use fully biodegradable wash products and the chemicals fully biodegrade in 55 days.
- Our chemicals are high quality and chlorine- and phosphate-free.
WATER
- We invested in a tunnel washer that recycles and optimises water usage. Since installation in 2013 we are already saving over 2 million litres of water annually.
- Continuously implement additional technologies and processes to reduce water and grey waste removal cost, enabling savings on water and sewage capacity, and reducing the demands on our precious and scarce municipal potable water.
ENERGY
- Reducing energy usage by maximum optimisation of wash processes and all our pipes are lagged so that heat loss in the boiler process is minimised, thereby reducing the time and energy required in this process.
- Our glazed window walls welcome natural light from sunrise to sunset, which not only reduces our demand on the energy grid but also improves the quality of the working environment at our premises.
- We installed VSD on all our motors, which saves over 62000KwH per month.
- All our lighting uses CFL energy saving globes.
- Ongoing investment in equipment and processes so that we continue our heat reduction and lower energy consumption journey.
FOOTPRINT
- Reduced carbon emissions by maximum optimisation of collection and delivery routes.
- Our boilers are fired by coal, instead of wood, which means our beautiful forests do not have to be felled to fuel our operation, and we produce less harmful carbon emissions.
SUSTAINABILITY
- Because our planet needs constant efforts towards sustainability, Washtub continues to research and implement initiatives and technologies to further lower our environmental impact, water and energy consumption and our carbon footprint.
- Drive environmental-friendly awareness campaigns with the communities we operate in, to encourage them to commit to also contributing towards the sustainability of our planet.
- Promote environmentally-friendly practices in interactions with our clients and suppliers.
- Continue to concentrate on progressive technology and innovative methodology in the Laundry industry, which enhances the efficiency of energy and water usage that ultimately preserves our planet.
Promoting our customers environmental consciousness
- Implementing a paperless transaction process that will also reduce hassle and save our clients time and money.
- Running Go-Green campaigns with our team and sharing anecdotes of the differences our people make in their communities.
