Traditional cleanroom laundries and other service centres that launder textiles, garments and related accessories worn in controlled environments are faced with high capital and operating costs, and have a significant sustainability impact (water, energy, chemical waste, discarded uniforms). These costs are in large part driven by the water-based infrastructure and processing steps that are needed to meet cleanroom garment standards.
By replacing water-based methods with liquid carbon dioxide (CO2) based cleaning methods, the impact of operational costs, capital infrastructure and sustainability can all be significantly reduced – all while maintaining superior cleaning and disinfection standards. CO2-based textile laundering offers enormous potential to a variety of cleanroom and healthcare-related markets, including biotech, pharmaceutical, semiconductor, aerospace, medical device and nuclear laundries.
Water scarcity is a growing concern. Worldwide demand for water is forecast to double in the near future, driven by population increases, industrialisation of developing countries and other factors.
In the US alone water prices increased by an average of 6.7% during 2013 in 30 metropolitan areas, and by more than 25% since 2010. Worldwide, especially in arid regions, water costs are exploding and water quality issues remain problematic. For many cleanroom-driven businesses, these issues will have a dramatic impact on their ability to operate not only existing facilities, but also new ones.
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