When simple is much better than expected...

• Retailer leads the way in its proactive energy saving approach
• Simple retrofit results in wide-scale savings on power and waste

Simple retrofitting that included optimising energy consumption (including lighting and heating) is saving a Scotting retail store energy costs of some € 350 000 annually. Waste has also been significantly reduced thanks to efforts to recycle and convert food waste, in particular, into energy via anaerobic digestion.

Pre-consumer textile waste in the cloth manufacturing sector is currently estimated at around 20 %. However, research suggests this figure could be much higher if all cutting scraps, production rejects (not meeting quality standards) and unsold items are taken into consideration. 

Resource-friendly fabric finish

Biopolishing is a textile finishing process using cellulase enzymes to modify the surface of cotton fabrics. Pilling (lint balls on the fabric) is reduced, colour retention is improved and stronger, longer-lasting fabrics are produced. Processing times can be massively reduced (180 mins to 100 mins), delivering cost savings of some 25 % in the case of combined biopolishing and dyeing.

Warm, comfortable ... and budget-friendly

Effective thermal insulation can help businesses to reduce energy consumption, with associated energy savings and reduced CO2 emissions. It can also improve staff comfort, health and wellbeing.

Retailers should set a list of priorities to optimise how they manage food waste. The highest priority should be to sell to the customer before the use-by date, but sometimes this is not possible or products are damaged during handling. In these cases, a variety of options are available, including reduced prices as the sell-by date approaches, offering deals to restaurants, selling the products to staff or offering them to charities for distribution, and so on.

K's choice

​Peak planning, peak performance...

Aerofoil technology can be fitted to the front of refrigerated display cases to minimise chilled air and energy losses. Aerofoil solutions can cut energy consumption by up to 30 %. 

Watershed moment for microfibres

Microfibres shed by synthetic textiles during washing are currently in the spotlight, especially their impact on aquatic ecosystems. Researchers are investigating this problem and how to prevent fibres from escaping into the environment.[1]

The wet processing of textiles is energy and water intensive, as well as requiring the use of numerous chemicals. Wet processing steps, depending on the textile product, can include sizing, desizing, scouring, bleaching, mercerisation, printing, and finishing. Many of these steps require high temperatures, mechanical agitation, and different chemicals to be added, whilst thorough rinsing with large volumes of water to remove excess chemicals is needed between steps. The use of enzymes in textile manufacture is an increasingly important way to lower the energy, water