Prudential Overall Supply: A Model for ‘Green’ Operations

17Sep
Prudential Overall’s office staff in Riverside, CA, celebrate the company’s Clean Green certification renewal.
Prudential Overall’s office staff in Riverside, CA, celebrate the company’s Clean Green certification renewal.

Prudential Overall Supply remains the largest U.S. uniform and facility services company to be TRSA Clean Green certified. The Irvine, CA-based operation received this distinction when the program began in 2012 and recently maintained it by earning its third three-year recertification. The achievement reflects the company’s continued dedication to operational efficiency and sustainability, reflected in its adherence to TRSA-designated water and energy use thresholds and best-management practices (BMPs) consistent with the ASTM International environmental laundering standard.

Long heralded for exemplary performance in conserving resources and controlling laundry wastewater discharges, Prudential was the first chain industrial laundry operation to be honored with the Clean Green designation. Throughout the early 2000s, as the industry developed benchmarks for measuring such efforts, Prudential had proven its above-average capabilities in minimizing a laundry’s carbon footprint.

The certification assures Prudential customers their workwear, towels, walk-off mats and other products are washed, dried and finished with processes that maximize sustainability and reduce greenhouse emissions. Clean Green-certified operations demonstrate significant commitment to conservation and green operations through these BMPs:

  • Recovering heat from drained hot water and heat dispersed from the process of warming water
  • Recapturing drained water from rinses for reuse
  • Using environmentally friendly detergents
  • Removing solids and liquids from wastewater
  • Solar energy and energy-efficient lighting
  • Recycling programs
  • Re-routing trucks to save vehicle fuel
  • Spill prevention plans

The Clean Green certification is valid for three years at a time. TRSA inspects laundry facilities seeking certification and approves documentation of their water and energy use and BMP deployment through production reports they submit to auditors during the inspections. TRSA’s certification management protocol includes auditor training by the association’s inspection program administrator.

Clean Green aligns with the ASTM International standard, Guide for Sustainable Laundry Practices, which recognizes key criteria for the certification as universal indicators of maximum sustainability in commercial laundry work. ASTM’s review of TRSA BMPs verified these as the most effective and practical techniques for a laundry to achieve green objectives.

TRSA members prompted development of the standard, which was vetted in the sustainability subcommittee of the ASTM Committee on Textiles. Top technical experts, scientists and environmental professionals from outside the linen, uniform and facility services industry reviewed the BMPs. ASTM is the global leader in developing and delivering voluntary consensus standards unparalleled in building consumer confidence in product and service quality.

“I applaud Prudential for their sustainability efforts and maintaining the highest standards in their production and delivery operations,” said Joseph Ricci, TRSA president and CEO. “Meeting all the criteria for certification is not easy, but Prudential is committed to industry-leading processes and technologies.”

For more information, visit www.cleangreen.org.

Release date: 09/17/2021

Contact: Jerry Martin, V.P. of Sales & Marketing (949) 996-8976

Source: trsa.org

By: trsa.org