25 November 2024
A business case for repair: How CWS Hygiene benefits from the refurbishment of dispensers and mats
Circular model has roots in the 1950s
Almost everyone knows it and has certainly used it more than once, whether in the washroom at the service station, in the office or in their favorite restaurant – the CWS Hygiene cotton towel roll. Wash your hands, pull out the towel, dry your hands and go on. What many people don't know is that behind this iconic product lies an environmentally friendly rental and service model that our portfolio company launched back in 1958. The cotton towel roll replaces paper and is professionally cleaned and returned for reuse. “So, circularity has always been at the core of our business model,” says Anja Hage, Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer at CWS Hygiene.
Putting the value chain to the test
The company has since grown into an all-in-one provider of hygiene solutions, with around 4,000 employees at 127 locations in 15 countries – and a broader understanding of sustainability. It is no longer just about offering durable towel rolls or dust control mats as a service model. "We want to reduce our CO2 emissions by 50% by 2030, with 2021 as the base year. The measures we are taking to achieve our sustainability goals cover all aspects of our value chain and material cycles. These include sustainable procurement, energy monitoring, photovoltaics, heat recovery and avoidance of waste,” says Anja Hage. This means that all processes at CWS Hygiene are put to the test in order to not only think in cycles, but also to act in a truly cycle-oriented manner.
“Hidden treasure”: Unused potential in material management
This brought Janina Wachtel, Head of Material Management and Technical Services, onto the scene. Together with her team, she discovered a “hidden treasure” in 2022, as it turned out. While CWS Hygiene had been refurbishing defective or disused cotton towel dispensers for years, many small dispensers, for example for hand soap, came off the wall almost as good as new and ended up in the bin. Their incineration alone resulted in avoidable CO² emissions. “People often assume that it is cheaper to buy things new instead of repairing, cleaning or refurbishing them. We had to counter this prejudice,” says Janina Wachtel.
At the same time, the existing process for refurbishing cotton towel dispensers caused long waiting times and high costs. Many dispensers lay unused in the depots for more than twelve months, as they first had to be processed by an external service provider after being dismantled. There was also no sustainability concept that went beyond simply refurbishing the dispensers. If a dispenser or mat could no longer be repaired, the product inevitably left the economic cycle.
Responsibility Report 2023/24
CWS Hygiene reports on the Act Circular Centres and many other initiatives in the Responsibility Report 2023/24, which was created in collaboration with CWS Workwear. In it, our portfolio companies explain, among other things, three key areas: what they bring into the cycle, how they operate the cycle and how they close the loop at the end of the cycle.
Field test provides important findings
The need for action was followed by a field test at the end of 2022, during which employees refurbished dismantled dispensers. “From this, we were able to derive knowledge about costs, reprocessing rates, the necessary personnel deployment and, for example, the equipment required,” explains Janina Wachtel. In order to live up to the CWS hygiene promise, the team also tested various alternatives, such as an ultrasonic bath or disinfection using UV-C light and dishwashers. External reprocessing companies were also visited. One question that remained was how to proceed with dispensers that were no longer suitable for refurbishment. The challenge for recycling: most companies that process plastics have a minimum order intake of 100 tons, which made this option unrealistic for small items such as hygiene dispensers. “However, a chance encounter enabled us to find a buyer for our plastic,” says a delighted Janina Wachtel. “This gave us the opportunity to get close to ‘zero waste’ in the future.”
Many of the processing tasks in the Act Circular Centre can be carried out while sitting down. The dispensers are also mounted on a rotatable arm. This is designed to improve the ergonomics of the new workstations as well as to create ideal conditions for employees with age- or health-related restrictions.
Successful business case is followed by the first centers in Germany and Croatia
The findings of the field test were convincing, with a business case soon following. Further factors such as transport routes and possible locations for the processing centers were included in the calculation. Centralized or decentralized? Due to shorter distances, a regional approach proved to be particularly sustainable – with centers in various countries where CWS Hygiene is already active. With “Act Circular,” a suitable name was quickly found for these facilities, which must be accessible from all locations within one day. Following the successful analysis and the go-ahead, the first of them have been in operation since spring 2024: In Dietzenbach near Frankfurt am Main and in Čakovec, Croatia. Centers in Glattbrugg (Switzerland) and Deventer (Netherlands) are to follow. “In Germany alone, we will have the capacity to process up to 75,000 dispensers per year,” predicts Anja Hage.
“Think Circular” becomes “Act Circular”
For CWS Hygiene, developing the Act Circular Centres has paid off on several levels. Firstly, the Haniel portfolio company saves costs that were incurred through unnecessary disposal and a lengthy refurbishment process. Secondly, it can keep products in the service cycle for longer and also sell previously disposed plastics to recycling companies. At the same time, these measures help to achieve the sustainability targets – which, in addition to the economic effects, is reflected in less waste and lower CO² emissions. So an important start has been made. In the coming months, the focus will now be on driving forward operational and geographical expansion.
In addition to refurbishing dispensers, CWS Hygiene is also focusing on the dust control mat product group. “In 2025, we will start to bring the majority of our mats back into the cycle using effective repair, cleaning and dyeing techniques,” says Janina Wachtel. True to the motto: “Think Circular” becomes “Act Circular.”
