Laundry
Initial CWS
Laundry
At Initial CWS in Deventer, you will find a truly unique laundry. The extremely low water and energy consumption from this laundry draws visitors from all over the world. Plant manager Wim Groot Zevert says, with pride: ‘We recently had a delegation from Brazil. Our supplier uses our facility as a global showcase for sustainable laundry practices. We use only 3.3 litres of fresh water per kilo of laundry.’ Initial joined forces with CWS in 2017 to form a joint venture. ‘The funny thing was that the technical staff at CWS were suspicious of our energy and water consumption. According to them, it simply wasn’t possible.’ Wim, grinning: ‘You should have seen their faces when they saw that the numbers really did match up.’
The Deventer facility in figures
In 2012, Initial decided that each laundry would specialise in certain product groups. For the Deventer facility, that was towel rolls for dispensers and barrier mats. A completely new laundry was then designed and built with a particular focus on water and energy conservation. Conservation methods include reusing the water multiple times and constantly trapping the residual heat released during washing for reuse in the washing and space heating process. This is a continuous process which leads to cumulative savings. At the Deventer facility, 17,000 towel rolls and 3,500 barrier mats are laundered every day. These products come from the Benelux, Northern Germany and Sweden.
Sustainable practices at customer level
Not only is sustainability and important factor in their own products, CWS Initial also stimulates and realises sustainable practices at a customer level in terms of sanitary hygiene. Account manager Ellen Wichers-Schreur: ‘The biggest challenge is cutting back on paper waste caused by the drying of hands after visiting the toilet. This gives rise to an unnecessarily huge waste pile. Our towel dispenser rolls are made from certified organic cotton. Our cotton is marked with the GOTS label. This means that the cotton is grown and produced in an environmentally and socially responsible way. One cotton roll is enough for approximately 110 hand drying sessions and can be laundered at least 200 times. You’re not only saving money, but also saving the planet!’
Businesses are increasingly opting for a toilet area with a user-friendly atmosphere. Together with its partners, Initial CWS designs a complete lay-out meet this need. Everything is made as contactless as possible and particular attention is paid to sustainability. A concrete example of this the design of the toilets in the Postillon Hotel Deventer with Initial CWS’ Ecoilet concept, a ‘green’ sanitary space which optimises resource conservation with savings in the use of water (-85%), soap (-53%), waste (-70%) and carbon dioxide (-48%). The nice thing is that toilet-goers can see these savings thanks to the Initial CWS Ecoilet plaque posted in the toilets.
The future
Initial CWS has established a leading position in the national market. In terms of sustainable toilet use, there is much to be gained for many companies. Proactively improving hygiene and making work and home spaces cleaner, healthier and safer: that’s what CWS Initial strives to achieve.