Cleanzine: your weekly cleaning and hygiene industry newsletter 31st October 2024 Issue no. 1136
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 International News
Products New EU legislation tightens sustainability reporting & clamps down on greenwashing:
New EU legislation - the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the EU Green Claims Directive - is to tighten sustainability reporting and combat greenwashing. The purpose of the legislation is to enhance transparency, accountability and sustainability in business practices. All businesses with operations or a market presence in the EU are affected.  Lone workers face increased aggression, EcoOnline research finds
Robert Scott launches 100% compostable wipe for sustainable cleaning
Culture change: how becoming people-centric can transform a business
Kärcher spotlights incredible work of cleaning teams with its annual Thank Your Cleaner Day campaign
Cintas crowns Maverik - Adventure's First Stop 2024 America's Best Restroom
Celebrating 50 years of innovation from Harrison Wipes and Chicopee
Meet Jangro AI Beta: The Smart Cleaning Assistant
Changes at the top of the pile for WoolSafe
Is it time your business systems had a refresh?
New study shows that closed pipe systems can reduce hospital bacteria
Safer Surfaces & Preventing Transmission - IDTechEx explores antimicrobial technologies
Sasse Group acquires Capital Maintenance
i-team Global launches i-walk: co-biotic wizardry that’s retrofittable with any i-mop XL!
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Welcome to the Cleanzine
Within months of joining the cleaning industry some 30yrs ago it dawned on me that our cleaners weren’t earning nearly enough - and it’s a feeling that’s grown stronger over time. It’s not just being tasked with cleaning up other people’s mess, which can be hard work and soul-destroying too, but also the unsocial hours which can mean walking out alone to the workplace, bus/tram stop or train station when the streets are quiet and dark and perhaps unsafe. Many also face working in isolation for much or all of the shift. Then there’s the lack of acknowledgment by, and respect from, the general public.
Many contractors have made a commitment to paying their cleaners the much-deserved Living Wage, which is a good bit higher than the Government’s Minimum Wage. I admire them for their commitment as I can imagine it takes quite some negotiating and can so often put them out of the running! Hearing the UK Government confirm yesterday that from April, minimum pay for over-21s must increase by 6.7%, (from the current £11.44/hr to £12.21/hr) and that 18 to 20-year-olds will enjoy a 16% increase - taking their current minimum pay from £8.60/hr to £10/hr, initially excited me, (and especially so since the Government’s also removing the cap on single bus fares in much of the country, allowing them to rise by 50%!). Then the reality set in... How will employers afford it - particularly those being forced to contend with higher National Insurance contributions? After all, those seeking cleaning services so often award the contracts to those who can seemingly do the same work for far less money than all the competition professes to need! Far too few can willingly accept that great service and results don’t cost mere peanuts. How do we persuade them otherwise? Or will jobs have to go and cleaning standards be reduced as a result of pay rises that just can’t be maintained?
Could The British Cleaning Council’s latest initiative provide the answer I wonder? It’s calling for minimum standards of cleanliness and hygiene for UK workplaces to be legislated by Government, with premises subjected to regular inspection. It says that this could help reduce the national bill for employee sickness, (reportedly £103bn in 2023!) thereby supporting economic growth. It argues that although employers currently have a legal duty of care to provide clean workplaces, standards are too vague. Mmmm… Could ‘minimum standards’ legislation force everyone looking for services to pay what the job’s actually worth, so that all those involved in providing the services can enjoy a decent standard of living? It’s a brilliant idea, but one that I’m not 100% sure is likely to be workable, when it comes to the reality of staffing and policing it. Your thoughts please?
This Week's News
Safe methods of isolation of platform controls on mobile elevating work platforms
The emergency stop control on the MEWP platform has been used in the powered access industry for a number of years to achieve isolation of controls and/or power source when the MEWP has reached its place of work.
Sands Cares Ambassadors and other Sands China team members joined volunteers from four organisations for the service activity: local green enterprise Macau ECOnscious, Green Future, the Bosco Green Store of Bosco Youth Service Network, and the University of Saint Joseph. 
Positioned discreetly next to the toilet, StepFresh uses a hands-free, foot-operated system that dispenses bleach or toilet cleaner in a 360-degree stream around the entire bowl. With one press, the solution coats the bowl, breaking down stains and marks effortlessly and replacing ineffective rim blocks and unsightly brushes. New tool combats costly bin contamination – in seconds!
To combat this, waste tech pioneer, Peasy, has come up with an innovative AI tool that can be used on any smartphone. ‘Instant Bin Audit’ provides an assessment of any bin's level of contamination, and can even identify the offending waste streams - within four seconds.  P-Wave launches limited edition urinal screen for high-end hospitality venues
"Our new Slant6 Midnight Coast limited edition is more upmarket than a celebrity chef's tasting menu," quips Mark Wintle, P-Wave's brand manager from Robert Scott. "The sleek, black urinal screen allows guests to indulge in a refreshing aquatic fragrance, balanced with green palm leaves, fruity and floral hints, all layered over driftwood and white musk. Landmark partnership for sustainable food waste management
Since July, Keenan Recycling has successfully collected food waste from all Heart with Smart Group's Pizza Hut Restaurants across the UK.  Spotless acquires South East-based hospitality sector cleaning specialist
Based in New Malden, Surrey, FH was set up in 1993 by its managing director Alister Gregson who now joins Spotless as a non-exec director. BICSc experts share industry insights at Clean & Tidy Home Show
As well as helping man the BICSc stand, the Institute’s group managing director, Neil Spencer-Cook, was joined by some of the BICSc who took part in presentations, Q&A sessions, and supported the Show's awards, with commercial director, Denise Hanson, taking part in the awards council to help highlight and select this year's worthy winners.  Proud moment as Slicker Recycling officially receives King's Award
It was announced in May that the company, which collects and re-refines over 75 million litres of used lubricating oil every year, had been awarded the King's Award for Enterprise: International Trade 2024, recognising Slicker's outstanding year-on-year growth as it helps companies operate in a more sustainable way. OCS UK secures four-year contract with Alstom for Voyager fleet cleaning services
OCS has worked in partnership with Alstom since 2020, delivering the full spectrum of train cleaning 24/7, 365 days per year. The Cleanzine Archive Search We keep an extensive archive of news stories and product information that have featured in past issues of The Cleanzine. If you would like to run a search of the The Cleanzine web site using the search tool below please just go ahead by entering in the name of the person, product or company or any other key words that you are looking for. How to contact us at The Cleanzine:
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