Sustainability practices help our customers
We provide textile services for customers, and this itself is a sustainable service model, as we rent textiles rather than sell them. In fact, we take sustainability into account with every design detail of our products – with every button and zipper – so that they are durable, hygienically washable, and efficiently repairable. In other words, the lifetime of each of our products is extended as much as possible. What’s more, our standard models can be used for many different types of customers; if one customer relationship is ending, or their employees have changed, we simply recondition those textiles and use them for the next one. To further improve the efficient rotation of our workwear, in 2020 we extended our workwear laundry storages cross-ordering practice from Finland to across Europe, with successful results, and the aim is to adopt this practice in even more countries during 2021.
How our sustainable practices help our customers
We have a passion for textiles, and for sustainable solutions that allow our customers to concentrate on their core expertise, while also helping them reach their environmental targets and improve their environmental footprint. Instead of customers washing textiles at in-house company laundries or having their employees wash them at home, we can offer this service with less water, detergent, and energy consumption.
We also ensure that all textiles are washed in a way that consistently meets hygienic requirements and ensures they are safe to use. What’s more, our service minimizes packing materials, with reusable fabric bags and protective hoods used for our laundered products, rather than single-use packing materials. Further, we properly dispose of the waste brought to our laundries by dirty textiles. All wastewater, including harmful substances like heavy metals, solvents, and sand coming to our laundries embedded in industrial vipers and mats, is handled appropriately. We also take care of waste-textile handling when a product is no longer usable.
Textile waste shares 2020
When a textile’s lifetime is over, our goal is to recycle it in a way that supports circular economy practices in their widest sense. Supporting this, our strategy 2025 sets out ambitious goals for textile management. During 2020 we have already taken giant steps towards this goal of 100% textile recycling. In Russia, we have found a partner for textile recycling, and in Finland, we signed a contract with the recycling company Rester.
Related
The challenge offered students of Óbuda University a unique opportunity transform end-of-life workwear into creative fashion designs.
Net-zero laundry program is one of our key initiatives to significantly reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from our operations.
Seven pressing questions about the circular economy answered by renowned experts Ulla Luhtasela, Anne Raudaskoski and Pasi Nokelainen.
