UK
At the recent Textile Services Association (TSA) National Congress in Southampton, TSA CEO David Stevens announced the launch of its Global Laundry and Rental Emissions (GLARE) carbon calculation platform, designed to help commercial laundries in the UK – and around the world – measure their carbon footprint. This will enable them to meet their carbon reporting requirements and will play a vital role in the TSA’s roadmap for the laundry industry to meet its targets for carbon reduction by 2045 ahead of the UK Government’s commitment for achievement by 20501.
UK PLC has already made some significant inroads in reducing its carbon emissions, with a total reduction of 9.3% since 2019 and 3.5% of that occurring after 20212. GLARE is based on the Green House Gas protocol to allow the laundry industry to record and track carbon emissions using the well-established methodology. Measuring the carbon emissions will then enable the users of the platform to report and implement effective carbon reduction plans.
As with any new project, it will be an iterative process, with its accuracy increasing over time as more companies use it. “It’s difficult to overstate the importance of GLARE to the industry over the next couple of decades,” said Stevens. “It’s been designed to be useful to the entire industry, so we took time to make sure it met the needs of everyone from SMEs to the largest players. It’s also being supported by our international partners in Europe and the US, enabling a truly global level playing field in terms of recording the progress the industry makes as it continues towards meeting its Net Zero targets.”
The system was extensively tested before launch by a group of TSA members to ensure it was fit for purpose. “GLARE has been designed to be easy to use,” said Rona Tait, managing director of TDS Commercial. “It’s been created with a wide range of laundry businesses in mind, and it will be very useful to independent businesses who want a good benchmark to measure themselves against their own baseline numbers.”
Access to GLARE is free for TSA members and non-members can access it for a fee. The platform also includes a downloadable Data Helper Tool (DHT) which will give users an insight into the kind of data they need to be collecting in order to make use of the system. The DHT also provides guidance on how to categorise various data points into the platform. In addition to this, the tool recommends a hierarchy of data options such as spend analysis or tonnage against different categories which makes GLARE a flexible, intuitive and powerful platform.
“Reducing carbon emissions is one of the biggest tasks facing every sector, especially concerning scope 3 emissions,” said Shyju Skariah, director of programmes and projects at TSA. “We have already made huge progress through efficiencies and optimisations in the laundry industry but we have a long journey ahead. GLARE is designed to enable the laundry industry on its sustainability journey with reliable data and well-informed decisions. GLARE provides a consistent record of change and a method of identifying future opportunities for improvement.”
References
1. https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-9888/CBP-9888.pdf
