\
6WPP W I?
Comparing reusable textile
and disposable products
by Carl Lehrburger
and Jocelyn Mullen
Carl Lehrburger is a waste reduction, recycling and product development consultant living in western Massachusetts.
Jocelyn Mullen, an environmental engineer who consults with the resource
recovery and reusable textile industries,
lies in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Their firm, Lehrburger Mullen, has completed severa1 studies on behalf of trade
associations which contrast reusable
and disposable products.
The article is based on a study completed by Jocelyn Mullen and Carl
Lehrburger under contract to the Textile
Renta1 Services Association of America
and the Institute of Industrial Launderers, November 1991.
A recent study found that
commercial/industrial
laundries offer waste
’ savings for textile use.
Their industry calls them “reusable textile products.” To the rest of us, they are
the cloth napkins served at nicer restaurants, cotton bar towels or the cabinet
roll-towels in the public restroom. In hospitals and health care settings, these
products include exam and surgery
gowns and washable diapers and bed
pads. In factories and printshops, they
are used as shop towels and wipers.
Although other industries have received attention for their recycling efforts, the positive conserving nature of
renta1 laundering operations has largely
been ignored. Yet in contrast to disposable products that are used once and
then discarded immediately in the solid
waste stream, reusable textiles are a living, breathing example of reuse.
A recently
released
study
has
examined the solid waste impacts of
specific disposable paper versus reusable textile products, seeking to quantify
the potential for reducing the amount of
paper waste from commercial and industrial sources.
The study, A Sohd Waste and
Laundering Assessment of Selected
Reusable and Disposable
Products,
characterized the amount of solid waste
produced by disposable and reusable
products, including paper towels, wipers
and napkins, adult incontinente products and hospital health care products
such as hospital gowns.
Research findings suggest the potential of reusable textiles products to assist
in waste stream reduction is significant.
In fact, figures show the nation could cut
its waste stream by almost 1.5 million
tons annually simply by substituting
reusables in these product areas for
their disposable counterparts. If you add
to this figure the 3 million tons of infant
disposable diapers tossed each year,
the solid waste impacts of the selected
disposables increases to 4.5 million tons
and equals almost 20 million cubic yards
of landfill space annually.
Reusable industry study
The study was commissioned by two
trade associations from the reusable
textile industry to determine solid waste
savings that could be achieved by substituting reusable for disposable products. It also included a laundry comparison of uniforms washed at home and by
commercial/industriaI launderers.
The study was not a product lifecycle
analysis, nor did it compare the water
impacts of competing reusables and disposable products. Previous work by the
authors includes a lifecycle analysis of
disposable, home-washed and commercially laundered
infant diapers (1).
Table 1 illustrates the specific products
studied.
The study was based on the assumption that all reusable and disposable
products are processed by one or both
of two different, but interconnected,
waste disposal systems: the wastewater
treatment system, and the solid waste
disposal system. Reusable textiles rely
primarily on wastewater treatment for
disposal, transferring the waste burden
from the solid waste system. Disposable
products rely almost exclusively on the
solid waste system.
Solid wastes are typically broken
down into two main categories for purposes of analysis: process solid waste
and post-consumer solid waste. Process
solid waste is the waste generated during any and all phases of manufacturing
the primary product(s), including wastes
generated by fuel production and combustion and acquisition of inputs to
the primary manufacturing process(es).
Post-consumer solid waste is the waste
generated during and after the useful life
of the product, including sewage sludge
from the treatment of laundering water.
Reusable and disposable products are
not used or substituted on a one-to-one
basis. Textile products are washed
many times during their useful life, and
within a single distribution cycle a cloth
79
Resarce
Recychg
July
1992
product may be used many times before
it is tossed into the hamper for the next
cleaning. In contrast, it often takes several single-use products for one job,
such as cleaning up à large spill or wiping one’s hands with paper napkins during a meal.
In order to contrast reusable textiles
with their disposable counterparts, the
concept of a “task” was used to establish comparative use parameters for
each product category.
For example, disposable towels are
used for one task, then discarded. Reusable towels may be used one time,
then laundered if the nature of the task
(e.g., wiping up grease) makes it impossible to reuse the towel again before
cleaning. If the task is wiping up water
or dusting, the cloth towel may be used
five or 50 times before laundering. Because of the variations in possible use
patterns, multiple use scenarios were
developed.
Reusable cotton products
Reusable textiles generate solid waste
in a variety of ways, including packaging, lint from the laundering process, in-
I
Table 1 -
Area of study
Drying/wiping
Drying hands
Food service
Industrial wiping/cleaning
tlealth care
Adult incontinente care
Industrial uniforms
Source: Lehrburger
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x
Continuous towels
Cloth napkins
Cloth towels
Shop/print towels
Cloth gowns
Cloth diapers
Cloth bed pads
Pants, longsteeve shirt
Paper towels
Paper napkins
Paper towels
Paper towels
Nonwoven/paper gowns
Single-use diapersipads
Single-use bed pads
No disposable alternative
Mullen, 1992.
percentage of renta1 textiles are sold as
rags after their useful lives as renta1
products.
Process solid waste generated by the
cotton and synthetic fibers industries
during cotton growth, harvest, processing, weaving and cloth manufacture,
and synthetic fiber manufacturing and
weaving was calculated for each reusable product. By comparing reusable
and single-use products on an equivalent task basis, it becomes evident that
as the number of tasks per product increases, the process solid waste per
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cidental wastes generated by a laundering facility, and the sludges generated
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total number of uses of each reusable
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waste generated during its life, solid
waste per equivalent use is significantly
lower for reusable products than for
single-use disposable products.
Textiles ultimately enter the solid
waste stream after their useful life, and
usually after severa1 more uses as rags.
A survey of linen supply and industrial
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task decreaies. The contribution of process solid waste per task is further reduced when reusable products become
rags after their useful service life.
Disposal methods for sludge include
landfilling, combustion and land application. In industrialized areas, wastewater
treatment sludges can contain potentially toxic heavy metals and organics.
Land application is suitable only for
sludges that do not contain contaminants in concentrations that could pose
environmental or public health hazards.
The amount of sludge generated by
treatment of water used for laundering
was converted to a per-task basis and
included in the post-consumer waste
calculations. Relatively large numbers of
total uses over the life of a reusable
product contributes to relatively low
post-consumer waste generation figures
per 1,000 tasks. Packaging and sludge
are the dominant components of postconsumer waste for reusable products.
Linen supply businesses and industrial launderers rely on packaging to protect some clean products during transport and distribution to clients. Because
packaging is used after each laundering
cycle for napkins, packaging impacts
from reusable napkins are on the same
order of magnitude as packaging from
single-use
napkins. However, many
reusable textiles, such as industrial uniforms, are not packaged for distribution
and may only be bound by twine or
placed on hangers, significantly reducing
packaging impacts compared with their
disposable counterparts.
Single-use (disposable) products
Nearly all of the disposable products
covered in the study place primary impacts on the solid waste disposal system. Commercial and industrial uses of
paper towels, napkins and adult incontinent care products consume 37 percent of the tissue produced by the pulp
and paper industry in the United States,
and generate 1.4 million tons of municipal solid waste (MSW) each year.
Other uses of tissue, such as hospital
gowns, represent another 14,000 tons of
MSW per year.
The paper, plastics and nonwovens
industries have made significant progress in reducing the quantity of process waste requiring disposal. The paper
industry burns waste wood for energy
production and recovers and recycles
process chemicals. Paper wastes generated during the papermaking process
are often repulped and incorporated
back into new paper. The plastics andnonwovens industries practice similar
scrap recycling. This type of recycling,
pre-consumer recycling, is distinguished
from post-consumer recycling.
Process solid wastes generated by
the pulp and paper industry, the plastics
industry and the nonwovens industry
were calculated for each disposable
product. As the number of tasks per
product increases, the process solid
waste contribution per task decreases.
Post-consumer solid waste calculations include the weight of the product
as manufactured
and the estimated
weight of any residuals contained in the
product at the time of disposal.
Although both the reusable textile and
single-use product industries have made
progress in reducing the quantity and
volume of packaging waste over the last
decade, for most of the products
studied, the use of single-use products
generates significantly more packaging
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wastes per task than reusables. For
example, disposable adult diapers and
pads generate 100 times more packaging waste than reusables per 1,000
equivalent tasks.
Comparing products
Commercial towels. Table 2 presents
a comparison of solid waste generated
by 1,000 equivalent uses of single-use
and reusable commercial towels for drying and wiping tasks.
Total waste numbers represent the
quantity of solid waste generated by
each product per 1,000 equivalent tasks,
including the full weight of the product at
final disposal, process solid waste generated during manufacturing and postconsumer packaging. The number of
uses of each product as rags (five uses
per rag times the number of rags per
product based on size) further reduces
the quantity of waste generated per equivalent task.
Continuous cloth towels used for drying hands produced one-seventh the
amount of solid waste of paper towels
per 1,000 equivalent tasks, even when
the most favorable use parameter of one
\
n Table 2 Commercial towels
Drying hands
Paper towels
Solid waste impacts
equivalent uses
Number used/task
1
2
3
1 .o
0.2
0.1
0.05
0.04
0.02
’
Solid waste per 1,000
task (pounds)
0
0.0069
Cloth bar towels
(1 taskiwash)
(5 tasks/wash)
(10 tasks/wash)
(20 tasksiwash)
(25 tasksiwash)
(50 tasks/wash)
towels per 1,000
Number of washes life
1
2
3
Continuous cloth
towels
Food Service
Paper towels
Source: Lehrburger
of commercial
D
7.64
15.28
22.91
59
1.05
0
0
7.64
15.28
22.91
13
13
13
13
13
13
32.51
9.92
5.31
2.75
2.22
1.13
Mullen, 1992.
paper towel per task is used for comparison. When three paper towels are used
per task, disposable paper towels produce 22 times more solid waste per
1,000 tasks.
In the food service sector, trends are
similar. Assuming a low-end estimate
that cloth towels are used for 10 tasks
before laundering, when compared with
paper towels at a use rate of one per
task, cloth produces two-thirds the solid
waste of paper towels. In a more likely
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scenario, wheh the number of pzper towels used per task is increassd to three,
paper towels generate more than four
times the quantity of solid waste per
1,000 equivalent tasks.
The data overwhelmingly suggest that,
at a minimum, the use of cloth towels
produces two-thirds the solid waste of
paper towels, using the scenario most
favorable to paper disposables. In the
scenario most favorable ‘&o reusables,
paper products produce 20 times more
solid waste than doe, cloth. And in the
most moderate sit&ation, paper towels
still product ?.!,Iost three times more
solid waste tian cloth bar towels.
c., Industrib wipers and towels. Table
3 prt?sents data on industrial uses of
cloth shop towelS‘ compared to paper
wipers. For clean tasks Wic¿sreow or two
paper wipers would be used Wtead of a
cloth shop towel at five or 10 taeks per
wash, paper produces more thari íû
times more solid waste than cloth towels.
For dirty tasks where two or three
paper wipers would be used instead of a
cloth shop towel at one or three tasks per
wash, paper wipers produce 3.8 times
more solid waste than cloth shop towels.
n Table 3 -
Solid waste impacts of industrial
1,000 equivalent uses
Industrial
wipers and towels
Paper wipers
Number used/task
1
2
3
Cloth shop towels
(1 task/wash)
(3 tasks/wash)
(5 tasksiwash)
(10 tasks/wash)
Source: Lehrburger
l
Table 4 -
1 .oo
.33
.20
.lO
Number of washes life
0
0
0
Solid waste per1,000
task c,põunds)
11.47
22.94
34.41
14.6
14.6
14.6
14.6
8.93
3.57
2.23
?.15
Mullen, 1992.
Solid waste impacts
Napkins
Paper napkins
Number useditask
1
2
3
1
Ckzt’h’;apKli 1s
Source: Lehrburger
wipers and toweds per
of napkins
per 1,000 equivalent
USeS
Solid waste per 1,000
task (pounds)
Number of washes life
0
15.98
0
32.16
3
47.95
33
3.23
Mullen, 1992.
For all scenarios developed, using cloth
shop towels produces significantly less
solid waste than using paper Hfipers.
Napkins. Table 4 presents a comparison of solid waste generated by 1,000
equivalent uses of single-use and reus-
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able napkirls for drying and wiping tasks
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solid waste per 1,000 equivalent tasks
than reusables. At ‘iwo paper napkins per
task, paper prc”.uces almost 10 times
more solid ‘Jvaste than cloth napkins.
However, Toad service industry sources
indicate three paper napkins per cloth
equivalent is a more typical replacement
figure
Hospital gowns. Table 5 presents a
comparison of solid waste generated by
1,000 equivalent uses of single-use and
reusable hospital gowns for examination,
isolation and surgical tasks in the medical
and health care sector.
Cloth hospital gowns produce less solid
waste per 1,000 equivalent uses than
paper or nonwoven gowns. Paper examination gowns generate almost four times
as much solid waste as cloth exam gowns.
Nonwoven isolation gowns produce five
@‘)
times more solid waste than cloth gowns
per 1,OOrYJ equivalent uses. Nonwoven
surgical g,owns generate almost six times
more solid waste than 1,000 equivalent
uses of cloth surgical gowns.
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Reusable textiles, such as these uniforms
(1) and cloth bar towels (Z), significantly reduce waste.
pital gowns produce more solid waste
than cloth gowns, but the waste produced
may often be classified as infectipus or
“red bag” waste, and is thus more costly
and more difficult to discard properly. Reliance on cloth hospital gowns represents
a simple and cost-effective way to reduce
the quantity of potentially infectious hospital waste requiring disposal.
Adult incontinente
care products.
Table 6 presents a comparison of solid
waste generated by 1,000 equivalent
uses of single-use and reusable adult incontinent diapers and bed pads in the
medical and health care sectors. Infant
diapers are not included.
Single-use adult incontinente diapers
and pads generate over 75 times more
solid waste than 1,000 equivalent uses of
reusable cloth diapers and pads.
emphasized waste reduction and materials reuse as waste management tools,
especially when compared with the emphasis on waste disposal technologies.
In spite of the failure of public policy to
recognize and promote the benefits of
waste reduction, many companies today
are incorporating waste reduction, reuse
and recycling practices into their corporate missions, goals and everyday activities.
For example, Red Lobster restaurants
recently stopped using paper napkins,
napkin rings and paper placemats, substituting linen napkins instead. Red Lobster estimates that this will eliminate 2,350
tons of paper from the waste stream each
year.
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Reuse and waste reduction
There is near universal consensus that
waste reduction and material reuse present the best opportunities for reducing
the costs and environmental impacts of
solid waste. By reducing the amount of
wastes generated at the source, the costs
of waste collection and transportation are
reduced and resources otherwise allocated to production of materials that become waste (e.g., packaging) are conserved. For these and other reasons,
reuse and reduction are preferred
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n Table 5 -
Solid waste impacts
equivalent uses
Hospital gowns
Exam gowns
Paper gown
Cloth gown
Isolation gowns
Nonwoven gown
Cloth gown
Surgical gowns
Nonwoven gown
Cloth gown
As greater attention focùses on burgeoning solid waste problems, r@JSable
textiles are emerging as one readily
available and simple solution. Large U.S.
corporations that provide products and
services in the hospitality, restaurant
and industrial sectors now looking at
strategles to curtall excesslve waste
should investigate greater reliance on
reusable textile products as a preferred
and effective alternative to wasteful
single-use products.
RR
gowns per 1,000
Number of washes life
Number useditask
Source: Lehrburger
n Table 6 -
of hospital
Solid waste per 1,000
task (pounds)
1
1
0
68
82
23.04
1
1
0
68
128.3
25.49
1
1
0
68
164
27.94
Mullen, 1992.
Solid waste impacts
per 1,000 equivalent
Adult incontinente
care products
Single-use diapers
and pads
Reusable diapers
and pads
Source: Lehrburger
Number useditask
of adult incontinente
uses
Number of washes life
1
0
1
76
Complete copies of this report may be obtained
from Carl Lehrburger for $75 ($55 for nonprofits).
For more information, write to Lehrburger Mullen,
P.O. Box 998, Great Barrington, MA 01230. The
quthors can be reached at (413) 528-1325 for
Carl Lehrburger and (719) 635-8939 for Jocelyn
Mullen.
care products
Solid waste per 1,000
task (pounds)
977.3
Referente
12.36
(1)
Diapers:
fnvironmental
Impacts
cle Analysis,
Lehrburger,
January 1991.
Mullen, 1992.
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