Uniforms and workwear are part of the job for millions of Americans. Foodservice, hospitality, construction, and the job list goes on. Just like non-uniform clothing, each piece of clothing must be cleaned — eventually being returned to the employer or employee for re-wear until it needs to be cleaned again. The cycle continues over and over: reusable textiles — is big business.
Reusable Textiles
According to Frost & Sullivan, the North American uniform and workwear market is expected to reach almost $10.5 billion in 2017. Opposed to simply purchasing new uniforms, many employers opt for rentals. These reusable textile rentals are segmented into one of three categories:
- Uniforms
- Corporate workwear
- General workwear
At over $10 billion in business, we’re talking about a tremendous amount of clothing — no matter the clothing category above. The impact of decisions on how that clothing is laundered is particularly important from an environmental standpoint.
Greener Laundry
Laundry takes both electricity and water. Prudential Overall Supply, a leader in the reusable textiles industry, uses less water and energy in its processes when compared to the alternative – home wash and disposables. They are also Clean Green Certified through the Textile Rental Services Association of America — a non-profit trade association based in Alexandria, VA.
TRSA Clean Green Certification recognizes companies that demonstrate responsible leadership in sustainability and conservation to protect the environment. The program acknowledges a textile service company’s continuing commitment to improving efficiencies in water and energy conservation and adoption of best management practices for reusing, reclaiming and recycling resources.
Based on their more environmentally friendly reusable textiles processes, Prudential outperforms carbon footprint reduction targets when compared to industry average.
Curious about the benefits of reusable textiles? You’ll want to check out this infographic.
Feature image credit gyn9037 / Shutterstock