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Environmental Issues notes,“ This has proven to be largely administration dependent / driven, but good firms will always have sustainability as part of their story, if for nothing else, economic reasons.” Welch adds,“ Water availability for the laundry industry is a much more critical issue than climate change— even if it is not as‘ sexy’ or in demand by the compliance departments of most businesses. Reducing the rates of incoming water use and outgoing discharge means more to the laundry than to almost any other industry.”
plants based in Arlöv, Sweden.“ Sustainability and the need to reduce environmental impact are not a trend, but a real and longterm necessity, even if political priorities may shift over time,” says Bjorkman, who is the CEO and managing director of the company.“ At Hr Björkmans, we take a long-term perspective and have embedded sustainability as an integral part of our business model.” For some operators, their image with
customers is a factor behind the laundry’ s focus on sustainability.
Do Customers Care?
We posed the question above to several operators and received a range of responses. Among them was Linda McCurdy, the president and CEO of K-Bro Linen Inc., Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. K-Bro operates healthcare and hospitality laundries across Canada and the
Bryan Bartsch, president and CEO of Ecotex Healthcare Linen Service, and his father, Randy, executive chairman of Ecotex and the chair of TRSA, offered a combined U. S./ Canadian perspective. In essence, they’ re convinced that the shift to sustainability is here to stay.“ We strongly believe sustainability in our industry is moving from a‘ program’ to a core operating requirement,” say the Bartschs, whose Vancouverbased healthcare laundry company includes plants in both Canada and the U. S.“ That shift is being driven less by ideology and more by economics, regulation and customer expectations converging,” they say.
Bryan adds that while the pace of sustainability efforts varies on either side of the U. S. border, he doesn’ t expect a reversal of the trend toward environmental upgrades.“ From a policy perspective, we expect a continued push— particularly in Canada and parts of the U. S.— toward decarbonization, water stewardship and chemical regulation,” he says.“ The pace may vary depending on political cycles, but the direction is clear. We are seeing increasing disclosure requirements, carbon-reporting frameworks and heightened scrutiny around water and effluent.”
Energy costs are one of the most unpredictable variables on the balance sheet right now for linen, uniform and facility services operators.
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This sense of inevitability is even more pronounced in Europe, says Carl-Johan Björkman, who operates a group of mat-processing
May 2026 • Textile Services 13