sent for washing immediately after per-forming the task costs 15 percent less; the disposables generate 2.6 times as much solid waste as the shop towel. ■ A normal wiping task handled by one disposable towel (then discarded) that could have been performed by a shop towel three times before washing costs 44 percent more and generates 3.9 times the solid waste. Shining The Lights On Environmental Issues Last year, TRSA saw the chance to shine an even brighter light on the environmental im-pacts of these products, deciding to conduct lifecycle assessments (LCAs) of disposables vs. reusables. The study proved that reusables create less solid waste than disposables from the harvesting of raw materials through manu-facturing, distribution, use and disposal. But, solid waste is just one factor in defin-ing a product’s cradle-to-grave environmen-tal impact. LCAs consider a wide variety of such im-pacts, including energy consumption and water and air discharges. TRSA’s thorough review of researchers resulted in the selection of Exponent Inc., Menlo Park, California, for the LCAs. We sought a firm that would command maximum respect in the scientific community. Exponent is known for tackling some of the most complex technical problems our nation has encountered, hired by government in the wake of the World Trade Center collapse and Hurricane Katrina, for example. Of particular relevance is Exponent’s ex-perience evaluating large-scale environmen-tal and public health issues. The company practices 90 scientific and engineering disciplines with a staff of 900 located in 20 domestic and five international offices. The TRSA LCAs (also assessing reusable and disposable foodservice napkins and healthcare gowns) are nearly final, ready to be sent to a critical review panel, as required by the ISO standard for LCAs. Initial Findings Preliminary results indicate that across the range of production scenarios — the dif-ferent business practices and techniques deployed by the millions of organizations around the globe in making and using these products and their raw materials — reusable shop towels have less impact from cradle-to-grave than their disposable counterparts, re-garding global warming, fossil fuel depletion and smog creation. In addition, when you compare typical (median) practices and techniques, reus-ables had less acidification (sulfur dioxide creation) potential. Exponent found that early stages in these products’ lives — raw material extraction and manufacturing — have greater environmen-tal impact than their later-life phases. Shop towels are superior in this respect in large part because they are produced pri-marily from byproducts of cotton processed for other textile products. This is better for the environment than cre-ating polyester needed for disposables. Introducing The LowRider – Propane Burnisher CMM0513 Available With Optional Dust Control Upgrade CE, LEED, CARB, EPA & GS-42 COMPLIANT 3.75" Profi le Call or visit us online 800-331-1423 • www.AztecProducts.com FREE INFO: Reader Service 207 or CMMOnline.com/freeinfo FREE INFO: Reader Service 206 or CMMOnline.com/freeinfo www.cmmonline.com 31
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