What are the environmental benefits of using a healthcare laundry service?
Healthcare Laundry Specialists and Reusable Linens and Apparel:
Because of the significant investment healthcare laundry specialists have made in upgrading to more efficient equipment, using a healthcare laundry service is a smart choice for facilities who want to reduce their overall environmental footprint.
Industrial washers are designed to wash more pounds with less water, regulate the amount of chemicals needed, and reuse water or recycling water. Heat reclamation systems allow energy to be captured during the laundering process, and returned to heat wash water. According to the 2005 Comparative Operating Revenues and Expense Profile for the Healthcare Textile Maintenance Industry, healthcare linen rental companies are more efficient in their use of water, energy and chemicals than other laundry services.
Environmental Impact of Using Disposable Products
The typical physician's practice can keep 780 cubic feet of trash a year out of landfills by using reusable textiles instead of disposables. This is the equivalent to enough waste to fill three baseball stadiums every year (approximately 202,800,000 cubic feet). Utilizing a medical linen rental company for lab coats, cloth patient gowns, and linen eliminates waste from going to land fills.
Other factors to consider with disposables: |
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Material: |
Is the material used to manufacture the disposable product made of recycled materials? |
Water: |
How much water does it take to produce the disposable product? |
Fuel &
Electricity: |
How much natural gas, oil and electricity does it take to manufacture and transport the disposable product? |
Chemicals: |
What types and volume of chemicals are used in the manufacturing process? |
Waste: |
How much solid waste and how much regulated medical waste does the disposable product produce when it is thrown away? |
Comparable disposables are almost twice as expensive as reusables on a cost-per-use basis.