Cleanzine: your weekly cleaning and hygiene industry newsletter 5th October 2023 Issue no. 1083
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International News
Products CMS Berlin 2023 comes to a successful conclusion
Packers and Tork team up on 'Tackle hygiene with every catch' campaign
New approach should improve competitiveness
Wing-screen wipers: How self-cleaning cicadas could help us have cleaner vehicles
ISS champions sustainable workplaces as official IEMA training centre
Lowering costs of wastewater treatment with nanobubble technology
Cleanology's annual charity fundraiser raises a record £32,000 for The Hygiene Bank
RIT partners with PathoSans for safe and sustainable cleaning solutions
Cintas shares five recommendations to celebrate National Custodial Workers Recognition Day
Five reasons to enter the Golden Service Awards and perhaps be a winner in 2024
Purus Awards winners announced at CMS Berlin
Jury chair Tanja Čujić-Koch, a member of the board of the Bundesinnungsverband des Gebäudereiniger-Handwerks and managing partner at Čujić Gebäudedienste GmbH, was able to draw some a positive conclusions from the competition:
Afflink awarded paper and janitorial supply distribution agreement with Premier
ISS UK & Ireland appoints Leanne Lynch to drive technology strategy as chief information officer
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Welcome to the Cleanzine
In researching Cleanzine’s Sustainability feature, which broadcast on Tuesday, (here’s the link if you missed it) I came across an inspirational initiative which took me back to last week’s Cleanzine Leader, in which I commended the NHS for attempting to streamline its staff uniform protocol but slated it for not having thought things through properly, which meant in my eyes, that it would likely lead to more waste being created, and potentially higher costs too – at least for a time, anyway.
The initiative, by Linda Ball and Mitch Herber of Upcycled Medical, is turning discarded plastics in our oceans and landfill into useful medical equipment – including staff uniforms and other workwear. Partner, Seaqual, based in Spain, collects the waste and mixes it with locally-grown organic cotton, before turning it into yarn which it then makes into the textile used by Upcycled Medical to make into NHS workwear. There’s a video which explains the process by which, instead of being discarded after just one use, plastic aprons etc can be reused some 20 times, after which they’re returned to the manufacturer for reprocessing back into new NHS workwear. Currently the ratio is 35% cotton to 65% of PET plastics waste, but Linda argues that this could be improved to include more plastics in future if our waste is segregated correctly, since different types of polymers can be recycled into different types of products. She says that with the correct initial manufacture and fortification the plastics can effectively, be used forever.
Now if the NHS can cut the ridiculously high number of colourway options to make its new protocol more workable, and use Upcycled Medical as its single supplier, we could perhaps be onto a winner!
This issue of plastics recycling is something of a bugbear for me. I’ve been a keen recycler for 30-plus years yet am sure I still don’t always deal with all my plastics correctly. I feel that the only way we can make the best use of plastics and prevent what Mitch says in the video is our individual consumption of a credit card sized amount of plastics each week, is to embrace the practice of co-mingling, and let the experts sort the waste. If I can admit to not getting it right all the time (and the rest of my family certainly can’t!) what hope is there for us when so many people simply can’t be bothered to try and get it right?
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This Week's News
Tennant UK appoints national account manager for the industrial sector Tennant Company has appointed Elke Van Keer as national account manager for the Industrial sector in the UK. Elke began her career with Tennant nearly two decades ago, starting in customer service, followed by a role within sales support, then as a strategic account specialist, before settling in sales. Obituary: Michael Parrish of Wightman & Parrish Michael Parrish, of Wightman & Parrish, has died at the age of 85. Michael steered Wightman & Parrish from retail to a new venture of distributing cleaning supplies back in the early 1960s. BICSc Awards 2023 - winners revealed! The winners of this year's BICSc Awards were announced at a glittering ceremony last week. Organised by the British Institute of Cleaning Science, these Awards recognise the exceptional and exemplary efforts of industry stars from the global professional cleaning community. A standout success, the event - held at the Forest of Arden Hotel & Country Club, was hosted by Paul Sinha, Star of TV's The Chase and a professional quizzer, comedian, doctor and broadcaster. SOAPBOX: How the FM sector can innovate with minimal risk John Norris, head of innovation for Samsic UK, discusses how an open approach with a clear evaluation process can keep the facilities management sector at the forefront of innovation post-pandemic:
"Before March 2020, innovation within the facilities management sector was a slow and cumbersome beast. Progress was largely limited to variations on a theme upgrade to products, machinery and materials. Lab-on-a-drone' sends science skyward to keep track of smelly air pollution Polluted air can contribute to the development of asthma and other conditions, and the first step toward combating its effects is continuous, accurate monitoring.
Most measurement devices are stationary, placed just feet above the ground, but these may not give accurate readings since contaminants can drift away. Now, researchers publishing in the American Chemical Society's 'Analytical Chemistry' have developed a 'lab-on-a-drone' system that can detect and analyse levels of pollutants, such as smelly hydrogen sulfide gas, while it is still floating in mid-air. Velair Group announces acquisition of Enviro-Save (UK) Velair Group has acquired all shares of Enviro-Save (UK), including the exclusive UK rights of the Oxy-Gen product range produced by FDT (Fragrance Delivery Technology). Enviro-Save is a long-established supplier of cost-effective and environmentally friendly washroom solutions, as well as being the master distributor of Oxy-Gen within the UK. The Oxy-gen washroom fragrance system guarantees the delivery of fragrance in the air continuously, constantly, and accurately for the entire duration of the chosen cartridge cycle of 30, 60 or 90 days. RAS trains Link REIT on public toilet design and maintenance In December last year, the Restroom Association Singapore received an enquiry from Asia's largest Link Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT Link) in Hong Kong regarding its interest in attending RAS training in September of this year. The training consisted of an on-site visit to a Happy Toilet shopping centre in the morning followed by a theoretical session at the Link REIT's office in the afternoon. Brushtec launches high performance steel-bristle Sweepertec brush Brushtec has launched an exciting new product within its Sweepertec range: the Sweepertec Steel. Made in Britain from ultra-stiff steel wire bristles rather than plastic, it is a powerful, fast-change fork attachment for the heavy-duty cleaning of yards and sites. The Sweepertec Steel is said to use 55% more bristle than the next competitor; 16 rows of 3.3 x 0.6mm patented steel wire bristle provide an extremely dense and strong brush, and the bristles are arranged in a chevron pattern that helps to collect even small debris. The brush also features non-marking HDPE wear edges, enabling the sweeper to brush debris close to walls without damage. Death of ventilation worker prompts renewed safety warnings The Building Engineering Services Association has issued an urgent reminder about the need for contractors to review safety guidance for working at heights following the tragic death of a ventilation engineer in Liverpool. 26-year-old Michael Jones was working on the construction of a new stadium for Everton Football Club at Bramley-Moore Dock when he became trapped between a scissor ladder and an overhead beam leading to fatal head injuries. Senior coroner Andre Rebello told Liverpool Coroners' Court that the police and the Health & Safety Executive's investigation of the accident was "very complex" and that the inquest would "take some time".[TRITO] Atlas joins forces with Confida and Two Counties Fast-growing facilities management company, Atlas, has been enlarged by two strong businesses in Scotland and southern England. Both Confida FM, an £8m support services firm based in Ayr, and Two Counties Cleaning Services, a £6m cleaning specialist in Hampshire and Dorset, have become the newest parts of the Atlas group. The strategy behind the deals is to invest in talented people and a strong contract base in those parts of the UK. They build upon Atlas' existing footprint, which includes long-term agreements with private sector and public sector organisations in those areas. It brings the Atlas group employee base to over 11,000 with over 700 people in Scotland and 1,000 in southern English counties. Phoenix Group consolidates IFM contracts with Mitie Mitie has been awarded a new contract with Phoenix Group, the UK's largest, long-term savings and retirement business, to deliver integrated facilities management services across the Phoenix Group estate. The new five-year, £62m contract will cover six locations in five cities nationwide, including Edinburgh, London, Hitchin, Wythall and Telford, and will see Mitie expand its existing relationship with Phoenix Group, with it already providing cleaning services at two sites in Edinburgh. 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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clicking the link above. Hospital Hygiene Our weekly updated Hospital Hygiene features current developments and product solutions cleaning and hygiene industry manufacturers are coming up with. Read More. Recent UK News
Metsä Tissue chooses Goole, East Riding of Yorkshire for planned landmark UK investment
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Three years of Planet Mark certification for Jangro
World Water Week: How small businesses can save 2m litres of water a year
From 'Rome to the Dome' to 'The Transplant Tour'
ProLux Cleaning receives award from The Federation of Master Cleaners
Chewing Gum Task Force in action with Keep Britain Tidy
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