United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals
Fanute supports the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development was adopted by all United Nations member states in 2015. “At its heart are the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are an urgent call for action by all countries – developed and developing – in a global partnership. They recognize that ending poverty and other deprivations must go hand-in-hand with strategies that improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth – all while tackling climate change and working to preserve our oceans and forests.” (https://sdgs.un.org/goals)
Fanute wholeheartedly supports these 17 Sustainable Development Goals as we believe that the continued wellbeing of our employees, our customers and our suppliers, as well as their families and communities relies directly on achievement of these goals. Fanute’s vision and purpose is closely linked to these goals, and we manage our business and stakeholders with all 17 SDGs at the top of our minds. In fact we believe our very survival is contingent on achieving these goals.
Fanute’s On-Premise Laundry solution – Key SDGs
Our On-Premise Laundry solution maps directly to five of the 17 SDGs. In the evaluation below we map our OPL solution against the Targets and Indicators adopted by the United Nations for these five SDGs (an “Indicator” is a quantifiable metric against which the attainment of each SDG is measured). Because we only install laundry systems into client’s operating and processing facilities we therefore we do not take on any actions that affect the overall plant’s achievement of SDGs. But what we actively do manage is reducing the impact of our laundry systems on the plant’s SDGs.
SDG #6 Clean Water and Sanitation – Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
Target 6.3: By 2030, improve water quality by reducing pollution, eliminating dumping and minimizing release of hazardous chemicals and materials, halving the proportion of untreated wastewater and substantially increasing recycling and safe reuse globally.
FANUTE: Our OPL solutions do not include treatment of wastewater as this is a client function, but we are able to directly impact this indicator by 1) ensuring that our laundry systems do not release hazardous chemicals and 2) minimising the micro-fibre materials that are released during any textile wash process:
- Our range of industrial laundry chemicals are supplied by Orlichem and are readily bio-degradable. We use minimal amounts of chlorine bleach and only use it in those washes where textiles have particularly difficult stains; we believe this to be preferable to discarding the item.
- Through our exclusive relationship with Hydrofinity and Xeros, we will, by late 2021, fit the XFiltra™ plastic micro-fibre filter to our laundry systems The XFiltra is the only micro-fibre filter in the world that can capture as much as 99% of micro-fibres released in the laundry process. This will capture between 130,000 and 700,000 micro-fibres per KG of textile washed.
Indicators:
6.3.1 – Proportion of wastewater safely treated
6.3.2 – Proportion of bodies of water with good ambient water quality
Target 6.4: By 2030, substantially increase water-use efficiency across all sectors and ensure sustainable withdrawals and supply of freshwater to address water scarcity and substantially reduce the number of people suffering from water scarcity.
FANUTE: Our OPL solutions directly impact this indicator by 1) utilising polycotton rather than 100% cotton textiles where possible, 2) using RFID technology to both minimise textile loss through waste or theft and improve textile wear & tear and 3) utilising low water laundry machines which reduce the consumption of water at our On-Premise Laundry sites:
- Cotton requires an exceptionally large amount of water to produce, estimated at about 20,000 litres of water per KG of cotton. Whilst the textile industry, most specifically the hospitality sector, has always preferred cotton we are working to convince our customers across all sectors to move to polycotton materials (60/40, 80/20) to reduce the use of cotton but also improve the life of linen. When coupled with XFiltra™ we are able to minimise the consequential increase in plastic micro-fibres released in effluent.
- Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology is the process of using electronic tagging of textile items to map and record their location, age and stage of processing. This allows us to know the whereabouts of textiles at all times and therefore minimise loss through shrinkage or theft. In addition items which show greater levels of wear & tear can also be upgraded early or replaced with heavier duty textiles to extend useful life.
- Our range of Hydrofinity washer-extractors utilise proprietary polymer XOrb™ technology from Hydrofinity. These XOrbs™ replace most of the water traditionally used in industrial washing processes. On average we save between 15 and 20 litres of water per KG of linen washed which is a saving of approximately 80%.
Indicators
6.4.1 – Change in water-use efficiency over time
6.4.2 – Level of water stress: freshwater withdrawal as a proportion of available freshwater resources
Target 6.6: By 2020, protect and restore water-related ecosystems, including mountains, forests, wetlands, rivers, aquifers and lakes
FANUTE: Our OPL solutions do not include active protection or restoration of water-related ecosystems, but we are able to directly impact this indicator in respect of wetlands, rivers, aquifers and lakes by 1) ensuring that our laundry systems do not release hazardous chemicals and 2) minimising the micro-fibre materials that are released during any textile wash process:
- Our range of industrial laundry chemicals are supplied by Orlichem, and are readily bio-degradable. We use minimal amounts of chlorine bleach and only use it in those washes where particularly difficult stains are evident.
- Through our exclusive relationship with Hydrofinity and Xeros in 2021 we will fit the XFiltra™ plastic micro-fibre filter to our laundry systems The XFiltra is the only micro-fibre filter in the world that can capture up to 99% of micro-fibres released in the laundry process. This will capture between 130,000 and 700,000 micro-fibres per KG of textile washed.
Indicators
6.6.1 – Change in the extent of water-related ecosystems over time
SDG #7 Renewable Energy – Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
Target 7.3: By 2030, double the global rate of improvement in energy efficiency
FANUTE: Our OPL solutions directly impact this indicator by utilising low water laundry machines which reduce the consumption of energy at our On-Premise Laundry sites:
- Our range of Hydrofinity washer-extractors utilise proprietary polymer XOrb™ technology from Hydrofinity. These XOrbs™ enable effective cleaning at temperatures about 20o lower than traditional washing processes. The effect of using 80% less water combined with a 20o reduction in temperature allows us to significantly reduce our energy consumption. On average we save between 2 and 4 KwH of electricity per KG of linen washed which is a saving of approximately 90%.
- We only use diathermic oil filled ironers in processing our flatwork. Diathermic oil filled ironers are more effective than steel cylinder roller irons as the diathermic oil heats quicker, retains heating temperatures better and convects heat across the ironing surface better. On average we estimate that we save between 2 and 4 KwH of electricity per KG of linen washed which is a saving of approximately 50%.
Indicators
7.3.1 – Energy intensity measured in terms of primary energy and GDP
SDG #9 Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure – Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation
Target 9.4: By 2030, upgrade infrastructure and retrofit industries to make them sustainable, with increased resource-use efficiency and greater adoption of clean and environmentally sound technologies and industrial processes, with all countries taking action in accordance with their respective capabilities.
FANUTE: We have encountered very few existing laundry sites which actively measure their impact on the environment which means active reduction against targets is impossible. Our OPL solutions therefore directly impact this indicator by implementing advanced technology-led solutions across all aspects of our On-Premise Laundry sites.
- In almost all cases we retrofit our clients’ existing OPLs with new sustainable equipment which dramatically improves resource-use efficiency.
- We actively measure and monitor resource consumption as one of our key measures of success.
- We train and retrain staff to focus on resource consumption, waste reduction and process efficiency as each rewash results in further use of scarce resources.
- FAILURE: We use vehicles to transport our staff, textiles or equipment. We acknowledge that our vehicles are not Electric or Hybrid vehicles and therefore continue to use fossil fuels which are hazardous to the environment. This is primarily due to unavailability of suitable size electric vehicles, but also due to cost constraints. We continue to address this issue as our business grows.
Indicators
9.4.1 – CO2 emission per unit of value added
SDG #12 Sustainable Consumption – Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
Target 12.2: By 2030, achieve the sustainable management and efficient use of natural resources
FANUTE: Our OPL solutions directly impact this indicator by:
- We reduce water consumption in our laundry wash process by 80%
- We reduce energy consumption in our laundry wash process by 90%
- We reduce energy consumption in our laundry finishing process by 50%
Indicators
12.2.1 – Material footprint, material footprint per capita, and material footprint per GDP
12.2.2 – Domestic material consumption, domestic material consumption per capita, and domestic material consumption per GDP
Target 12.4: By 2020, achieve the environmentally sound management of chemicals and all wastes throughout their life cycle, in accordance with agreed international frameworks, and significantly reduce their release to air, water and soil in order to minimize their adverse impacts on human health and the environment.
FANUTE: Our OPL solutions directly impact this indicator by:
- Our Hydrofinity laundry systems uses polymer XOrb™ technology to reduce the amounts of chemicals required per wash cycle. In addition, we only use readily bio-degradable laundry chemicals. Both these factors reduce the release to water of hazardous chemicals.
- The XFiltra™ micro-fibre filter developed by Hydrofinity captures up to 99% of both plastic and natural micro-fibre waste which is released during the wash process. Once deployed, our laundry teams will remove and safely recycle the waste captured in the filter. This significantly reduces the release to water of waste generated during the wash process.
Indicators
12.4.1 – Number of parties to international multilateral environmental agreements on hazardous waste, and other chemicals that meet their commitments and obligations in transmitting information as required by each relevant agreement
12.4.2 – Hazardous waste generated per capita and proportion of hazardous waste treated, by type of treatment
SDG #14 Life Below Water – Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development
Target 14.1: By 2025, prevent and significantly reduce marine pollution of all kinds, in particular from land-based activities, including marine debris and nutrient pollution
FANUTE: Our On-Premise Laundries are classified as land-based activities and can result in marine pollution through marine debris. We actively manage this Indicator by fitting the XFiltra™ micro-fibre filter to our laundry systems:
- Global textile laundry is responsible for 190 million tons per year of primary microplastics being released into our waste-water systems and ultimately finding their way to our ocean-beds. Through our exclusive relationship with Hydrofinity and Xeros, in 2021 we will fit the XFiltra™ plastic micro-fibre filter to our laundry systems The XFiltra is the only micro-fibre filter in the world that can capture up to 99% of micro-fibres released in the laundry process. This will capture between 130,000 and 700,000 micro-fibres per KG of textile washed.
Indicators
14.1.1 – Index of coastal eutrophication and floating plastic debris density