Sustainability

The type of washing machines we use are state-of-the-art industrial tunnel washers, which are engineered to help reduce water consumption compared to traditional washing machines while still maintaining exceptional cleaning practices. A traditional washing machine like what you have at home requires between 2 to 4 gallons per 1 pound of laundry while our washers use only 0.4 gallons per pound. This saves 32 million gallons of water per year.

THL utilizes a wastewater heat recovery system that recovers the heat from the outgoing wastewater and transfers it to the incoming fresh water using a specialized heat-exchange piping system. The system raises the incoming water temperature by more than 25-30 degrees at a cost of only running one electrical pump.

THL also recovers heat from the boiler exhaust “economizer” which heats the incoming fresh water another 7-10 degrees. These efforts reduce the amount of utilities needed to create hot water.

The detergent and fabric softener used by THL are formulated to be biodegradable, NPE-free, and DfE compatible. DfE is the EPA’s “Design for the Environment” program that works with industry to improve the environmental friendliness of industry practices. THL also uses non-chlorine bleach that is safer for the environment and can clean at lower temperatures, providing energy savings. And a big portion of THL’s chemicals are shipped in bulk trucks, saving on plastic barrels.

THL initiated a conversion to LED lighting throughout the plant which saves electricity, provides better lighting, and saves on labor to change out bulbs since they last longer.

The most effective environmental initiative for a laundry/linen service is utilization conservation. THL and our clients (hospitals) work together to implement effective linen management programs that promote proper linen usage and circulation, reducing misuse and abuse of linen in hospitals, improving linen awareness, and increasing linen life cycle, all of which further improves conservation of utilities and resources and reduces waste.

Our business is “green” by nature as reusable rental linens keep comparable disposable items out of the trash and bio waste stream. And our reusable products provide the most sustainable and cost-effective solution for hospitals in regard to keeping patients warm, dry, clean and comfortable during their stay. Many of our items are specifically designed to resist stains and dry faster, which means further reduction of resources to effectively launder these products.

Some linen items are no longer suitable for hospital use due to being worn, stained or torn but are still useful for certain applications. For example, we dye and use old bedspreads as ambulance blankets to help with patient transports; we donate old blankets and bed linens to a variety of charitable organizations, and old incontinent pads to animal shelters; and we make old bath towels and washcloths into cleaning rags or maintenance towels for hospitals and mechanic shops. By doing this, we keep the rejected linen out of landfills while serving our community.

THL recycles most of our byproducts to minimize waste and prolong the usable life of our resources.

1. Plastics – We bale and recycle our plastic, including disposable plastic bags used to transport soiled linen from the hospitals.
2. Cardboard – We bale and recycle our cardboard, including the cardboard boxes from linen shipments and supply orders.
3. Ragout linens – We bale and recycle unrecoverable ragout items, sending them to a company that makes them into rags for other industries and applications.