While providing the best laundering service to customers, minimizing the impact on the environment is also our goal. Therefore, we have implemented the following measures to reduce waste and energy consumption, so as to achieve sustainable development.
The use of LED tubes
We have installed LED tubes for our 40,000 sq.feet-sized plant. The LED lamp is a semiconductor light source that emits light when current flows through it, without producing any heat or using any mercury. Also, the LED lamp has a long lifetime that up to 20,000 ~ 40,000 hours. Comparing to the traditional T-8 light tube, the use of LED can save more than 40% of electricity and be used for a much longer period.
The application of the negative air pressure in our plant
Our plant design has utilized the negative air pressure to create strong cross ventilation. As a result, without the installation of air-conditioners, the temperature of our plant can be maintained at a level lower than 26 °C over the year. Having high temperature and humidity in workplaces has always been a challenge faced by traditional laundry plants because almost every laundry-related machine produces heat and releases steam. This might result in a poor working environment and bring negative effect to labor’s health and hence affect their working performance. However, having installed a powerful exhaust fan for every 450 sq. feet in our plant that takes away 45,000 m3 air per hour, negative pressure will be created and a huge amount of fresh air will consistently flow into the plant in order to balance the air pressure. As a result, the air convection lowers the workplace temperature and humidity significantly. Besides, we have placed different machines on proper locations to maximize the advantages of cross ventilation. With this negative air pressure plant design, not only a more comfortable working environment can be attained, a large amount of electricity can also be saved when comparing to using air-conditioners.
The use of the tunnel washer
A tunnel washer is an advanced and automatic laundry machinery composed of a certain number of washing chambers, a compressor, conveyors, dryers and control panels. A traditional washer drains all the water, heat and detergent after finishing each laundering program. However, a tunnel washer has a specific system to recycle and reuse the above resources. As a result, 70% of water, 50% of steam, 30% of detergent and 30% of electricity can be saved when comparing to the traditional washers under the same laundering volume.
The use of variable frequency motors
We have used variable frequency motor for our machinery. It can control the motor spinning speed and save 50% energy when comparing to a traditional motor with the same performance. It also produces less noise and helps create a better working environment.
The application of the boiler energy-saving device
Under normal circumstances, a boiler needs to heat room-temperature water from 30°C to 150°C to produce steam and a large amount of fuel will be consumed during the process. However, with the installation of the energy-saving device, the heat from the chimney is absorbed to preheat the water before it enters the boiler, which can heat water from 30°C up to 100°C. In other words, water in the boiler only needs to be heated from 100°C to 150°C, instead of 30°C to 150°C. As a result, about 240% of energy is saved and it significantly lowers fuel consumption. At the same time, since the heat of the exhaust gas is absorbed, the exhaust gas temperature is lowered from 220°C to 140°C before emission. With the use of this energy-saving device, a higher boiler efficiency can be achieved with less energy consumption and adverse environmental impact.
The selection of laundry machinery suppliers
We have chosen the world-leading laundry machinery brands JENSEN and SANKOSHA as our machinery suppliers. Their advanced technology can provide us the most stable machines with the highest performance and factor of safety. They keep developing new machines that consume less energy and have higher energy efficiency. For example, the CLEANTECH technology developed by JENSEN aims to minimize the consumption of resources like water, electricity and heat. On the other hand, they have a high standard in choosing the raw materials of the machinery parts and the design of machines, which helps to build machines with a longer lifespan. Therefore, by using the machinery from these brands, we can provide a high laundry service quality and at the same time, save energy and reduce waste.
The selection of detergent suppliers
We have chosen the most famous brand DIVERSEY and ECOLAB as our detergent suppliers. Their advanced technology and excellent management can provide us the most stable and outstanding performance detergents which also consist of fewer chemicals, requires less heat and water to take effect, such as the POLYVANTAGE technology developed by ECOLAB. It allows removal of stain at a lower temperature which not only reduces comsumption of fuel, it also causes less damage to the linens and hence extends the lifespan of linens. Besides, they also developed a set of laundry programs for us to deal with different types of linen and degrees of contamination, which aims to achieve the highest efficiency that uses the least amount of detergent, water, electricity and heat to attain the best laundering result. Moreover, we uses their automatic detergent dispensing system to ensure that every laundry program uses the proper amount and type of detergent, and prevent human error.
The handling of packaging materials
Since we deal with tens of tons of uniforms and linens a day, a lot of plastic bags and hangers are used. In order to reduce to use of hangers, we will propose our clients not to use plastic bags for packaging if their linens are carried by trolley. Besides, we have purchased plastic bags with different sizes to make use of every space of them during packaging. Also, the plastic bags are made of thinner but stronger materials which can reduce the used of plastic and maintain our service quality at the same time. On the other hand, we have a hanger recycling scheme that some of the laundry fees will be refunded when a certain quantity of hangers is returned. This scheme can encourage our clients to return excess hangers so that the hangers can be reused by us. All these measures can help waste reduction.
The handling of worn linens
We provide rental services for linens such as table cloths and napkins. After being laundered and used for certain times, they will be worn out and needed to be replaced from time to time. Before discarding them, we put some marks on them and provide to our clients as dust cloth for cleaning. By doing so, we can make good use of every linen and reduce waste.
