How Reusable Textiles Are A Model Of The Sustainable Circular Economy In Waste Removal

Last month our Managing Director at Lindstrom UK, Peter Jones delivered a presentation at the UK’s largest Recycling, Resource & Waste Management Event in Birmingham. This was based on ‘How reusable textiles are a model of the sustainable circular economy in waste removal’ here we will take you through an overview of our industrial wiper service and provide an understanding of our circular economy business model.

Lindström in Brief

We are a textile service company focused on making our customer’s life easier. Every day, we strengthen the image of our customers. First established in 1848, we currently have 4550 employees across 24 countries, with more than 80 sites. We care for people and our planet by inspiring people to shine and businesses to grow in a sustainable way. Our business model is based on a circular economy and we constantly improve our and our customers’ sustainability.

Overview of the Industrial Wiper Service

Different industries have varying needs for what needs wiping and diverse absorption levels. Often dirt can be oil or ink but, in some industries, it could be classified as hazardous waste that needs to be handled and disposed of correctly by law. No matter the size of your business we have a variety of options for you, which can be delivered anywhere across the UK. In 2020, we invested over £11m to build the UK’s most ecological wiper laundry. Made purely from recycled cotton these can typically be reused up to eighteen times. Our cost-efficient service ensures that our customers always have enough clean wipers and absorption mats in use and their premises stay clean thanks to the collection containers included in our service. We collect all hazardous substances in our laundry process, and it gets cleaned and recycled in our new state of the art laundry. Bespoke £4m effluent treatment enables ZERO discharge of wastewater and any solvents and inks are recovered, to be used as fuel elsewhere. All Lindstrom wipers used in the UK are also laundered in the UK saving 100 tonnes of CO2 a year.

Sustainability and Circular Economy

Sustainability is one of our company’s values, it is built upon the decisions we all make every day. One moment of caring can save the Earth’s resources. As a company, we enable a circular economy by creating sustainable innovations, sharing these across true partners then enabling our customers to make sustainable decisions.

Our core business model is built upon a circular economy in its widest sense. As an alternative to disposing of items, or owning but then washing them at home, we extend the life cycle. Designing textiles for a specific purpose, using them for as long as possible to then ensure maximum life. We aim to minimise the carbon footprint at every phase of our process and ensure safe working conditions for all our employees.

Designed for maximum life

Our 90% Öko-tex 100 certified garments are designed from durable materials of which are easy to maintain and repair.

Production on demand for minimal textile waste

Our own manufacturing enables fast reaction to customers’ needs which means there are no obsolete garments on our stocks.

Repaired & reused again to lengthen the life

We save more than 4 million garments yearly by repairing, 36% of our workwear in use.

Recycled to create new

We aim to recycle 100% of our textile waste to other products, raw materials, or back to fibres for the textile industry.

Maintained with minimal water and energy consumption

We recycle water and decrease energy consumption with our heat recovery systems. Industrial washing uses 55% less water than home washing. Our calculations for home washing are based on public information provided by different consumer companies and government institutions. We compare these numbers to the consumption of water, detergent, energy, and CO₂ emissions in our own industrial washing process.

Delivered with optimized loads and routes

Our trucks never drive empty. We deliver garments to our customers on time with minimal carbon footprint.