Modular laundry system could help reduce medical textile waste

St Michael’s Hospital in Hayle is the first to process its reusable facemasks, surgical gowns, operating theatre drapes and other PPE items through the new laundry system.

The existing solution providers for reusable PPE process all regulated medical textiles in large, centralised laundry facilities, which aids industrial efficiencies but can lead to time delays, plus transport and carbon costs.

The modular laundry system is mobile and designed for transport by truck. Unlike traditional concrete and steel builds, the modules can be built on site in three months and installed by connection to services in two to three days.

To run the modular units an advanced IT system is used to allow for tracking, training, quality assurance and reporting of asset controls, plus economic and environmental impact.

The washing and drying machines within the pod have been designed to be as sustainable as feasible by Electrolux Professional, and are 100 per cent electric, while the dryers are heat-pump units for added energy efficiency. Dr Tom Dawson, founder of Revolution-Zero and Visiting Research Fellow at Exeter University’s Business School explained that healthcare or industrial laundries use gas and oil for heating.

He said: “The realisation of our first ZERO-DECON medical textiles processing unit in Cornwall is a major milestone for us in our drive to displace, through circular economy solutions, single-use from healthcare supplies in the UK and worldwide.”

Dr Dawson believes the modular laundry could have a role in low- and middle-income countries where access to disinfection and sterilization is critical but where supply chains are compromised.

He said: “This is just the start of our long-term journey and vision. The value that circular economy solutions can provide is not limited to wealthy nations. We can take the learning from our projects to implement highly effective and relatively low-cost solutions in those global areas that need it most. All going to plan, the next few years will be both an exciting and impactful journey.”

Professor Peter Hopkinson, director of the National Interdisciplinary Circular Economy Hub at Exeter University, has helped Revolution-Zero design and develop a full ‘cradle-to-cradle’ life cycle for its reusable PPE products and described the modular laundry system as a ‘brilliant example of systemic circular innovation’.

He said: “In my opinion it is the best example of a circular economy system design built from scratch. Everything has been thought through and every challenge and barrier that you can imagine has been overcome, from ensuring the PPE meets the requirements for disinfection and sterilization to demonstrating that it’s a lower cost, lower carbon intensive and lower waste alternative to single-use plastic.”