Providing environmental answers

The new regulations affecting drycleaners could come into force early in 2003, predicted Stan Liu, head of the Environment Canada division responsible for introducing them.

This prediction, given at the first seminar, sent the audience back to the exhibition floor to find answers for their own plants. On hand to help them were the Canadian representatives of drycleaning machine manufacturers as well as the company executives from Italy and Germany. Canadian firms deal directly with factories overseas, rather than through distributors as is the case in the USA, so cleaners have a close relationship with the parent company.

The Canadian regulations will ban all transfer and vented machines and require closed cleaning machines with refrigeration. There is a standard for solvent consumption of no more than 10kg or 6.2 litres of solvent per 1,000kg of clothes cleaned. However, manufacturers have to ensure the machines reach this before they leave the plant. It is not the responsibility of the individual drycleaner.

Separator water

The regulation which generated the most interest was that concerning the treatment of separator water from the cleaning machine. The new regulations will require additional filtration beyond the separator in the cleaning machine itself, and three suppliers, all from the USA, were on hand with devices to solve the problem.

Seminar Schedule

The first day of seminars focussed on laundries. Two speakers discussed reusable vs. disposable linens for institutions. This was followed by the CEO of Canada's largest central laundry. He has spearheaded innovative diversifications to provide additional cashflow for the central laundry. However as his competitors pay close attention to his innovations, he appeared to be protecting his future plans by speaking of vision, but without giving concrete examples.

Saturday was drycleaning day and the keynote speaker was Chris Tebbs, well known in the UK. He brought an international perspective to the problems currently facing Canadian drycleaners. He made his audience aware of the fact that many facets of the new regulations are merely bringing the Canadian industry into line with other countries. He also pointed out that although the Canadian controls are only for perc, the UK also regulates the consumption of hydrocarbon solvent. His final word of advice was that drycleaners must be proactive rather than reactive in dealing with changing conditions.

A panel on alternative solvents featured speakers on water, perc, DF2000, GreenEarth, CO2 and Rynex. At the end of the presentations, the chairman called for questions from the audience, and there were none. But when the session was declared over, many people went to the front to talk to the panelists. I concluded that they had already decided what their next solvent would be, if they gave up perc, and merely wanted to have their choice reinforced, rather than having an open debate.

The final day was Korean Day. One-third of the drycleaners in Ontario are Korean, so this was an important day for the exhibitors. A seminar was held with the CO2 speaker repeating his remarks from the panel while his talk was translated into Korean.

Industry Reception

The sponsoring organisation, Canadian Cleaners and Launderers Allied Trades Association, has a tradition of providing hospitality at each exhibition, both in Canada and at the USA Clean Shows. This year they set a new benchmark of excellence with a tropical garden theme, elegant food and a sufficient number of bars. This reception, always held after the first day of the exhibition, is very popular.

Each Clean Canada, an Award of Excellence for dedication to the industry is presented and this year I was surprised to receive the award myself.