Developing a more sustainable laundry process in India

Venkataraj Anantharaman, Lindström India’s Head of Continuous Service – Asia, knows how important it is to optimise water and energy consumption in our service process. Not only is he a member of Lindström’s Sustainability Tribe sharing the best practices and initiatives from different regions, he is also living in the country that is the world’s largest user of groundwater with water resources declining at an alarming rate. Cities across India have been facing acute water shortages and water scarcity threatens even food security. 

“We co-operate actively with our partners to find ways to reduce water and energy consumption without compromising the washing quality. In our yearly meeting, Diversey, detergent supplier, introduced us the Green Chemistry initiative that has generated good results in our European laundries,“ explains Anantharaman. 

The pilot started in the beginning of 2021 in Lindström Mumbai unit with excellent results. There were improvements in the washing quality as well as in the water and energy consumption. As an outcome the percentages of rewashes decreased, garment lifecycle increases, and less wastewater is discharged. 

“To summarise, the new washing program helps us offer more sustainable services to our customers while making the process more cost-efficient,” shares Dr. Nikhil Shirsat, Process Specialist responsible for the project roll-out. In the beginning of November, the new system was taken into use in all units in India. The preliminary results have shown 6–7% reductions in energy and water consumption. “In annual savings, it equals the amount of water in two Olympic-sized swimming pools and the energy consumption of 500 refrigerators,” says Shirsat proudly.