FMnewsroom – innovation. From cleaning robots cruising large corridors to smart bins selecting waste, the facilities sector is undergoing an impressive transformation. However, there is still room for innovation in the sector, especially the field of cleaning and hygiene offers many opportunities.
Look beyond today
Amid the progress of facility management and cleaning services, there is a Dutch start-up award that innovative professionals keep an eye on. The goal of the CSU Innovation Award is to make the sector more fun, efficient, sustainable, ergonomic and data-driven. The most promising innovations are considered to be presented here, solutions that can move the facilities sector forward.
“We need to transform a sector with enormous impact on society and nature. That is only possible with start-ups,” – Kos Fourkiotis, Innovation Manager at CSU Cleaning Services told Innovation Origins.
Small change with lasting impact
Besides robots and AI technology, there are other game-changer innovations making the industry, and our lives more sustainable. One is the winner of the CSU Innovation Award 2022, the sustainable block soap dispenser LESSEAU. The name comes from the English word LESS and the French word EAU for water, referring to less water as this innovation is not only a no-touch solution, but also offers a sustainable alternative to liquid soaps that are often used in commercial facilities.
Why do we need an alternative? Not only because solid soap bars can use recyclable packaging instead of plastic, but the production of solid soap hardly requires any water, unlike liquid soap. As LESSEAU claims, liquid soap can contain up to 95% water, while solid soap bar production requires barely 5%.
According to a study by the University of Manchester, using bar soap can result in a 25% reduction in CO2 emissions compared to using liquid soap. This is because the production, packaging and transportation of solid soap requires less energy and resources than liquid soap.
Future-proof waste management
Another finalist last year was Recycling Solutions B.V. offering a solution to the plastic packaging problem and waste separation. Its Waste Processor device helps reduce waste disposal costs, transport, fuel and energy. It thus contributes to the reduction of approximately 15% of CO2- emissions in your country – as the company claims.
The Waste Processor is easy to place in any kitchen, canteen or workshop at companies, households, schools, hospitals, ships, train stations and airports. The machine processes packaging materials such as plastic, cardboard, paper, beverage cartons, bottle caps, cans and aluminium packaging. The processing consists of separation, grinding and storage. This solution creates diverse mono-flows of reusable raw materials.
Restroom cleaning revolution
Every year billions of litres of chlorine and other environmentally harmful detergents from sources such as toilets find their way into the environment. The team of TranZero broke the cycle rendering the use of aggressive detergents unnecessary and presented a solution worth winning the innovation prize in 2021.
Their cleaning device, BubbleFlush secures a green and sustainable method for cleaning toilets based on ultrasound. The patented innovation ingeniously harnesses an ancient and powerful natural phenomenon and uses it to clean the toilet spotlessly. This makes the BubbleFlush pre-eminently fit for the professional market, which includes catering facilities, hospitals and care centres, schools and childcare centres, holiday villages and offices.
Photos: bubbleflush.com, lesseausoap.com, recyclingssolutions.eu
