Wherever your business is located, during the height of the pandemic in your area, you made decisions that you otherwise may not have made. Product shortages due to panic buying, distribution challenges and delivery issues made everyone take whatever they could get.
Now as our COVID numbers come right down and businesses return to some kind of normal, the dust starts to settle and we have time to reflect on those purchasing decisions. And in some circumstances, our goals and values may even have changed over 2020.
In facility management and procurement, responsible sourcing and sustainability have long carried considerable weight. During the pandemic however, what was once a ‘have to have’ became less important, we became focused on hygiene and meeting guidelines.
Now it’s time to reset and review the panic buys.
The big one is Hand Sanitiser. We all needed it to open our doors and to keep our staff and customers safe. But there is plenty of sanitiser on the market that does not meet the requirements to be effective against COVID. It is recommended that sanitiser has 60-80 percent alcohol content. Tork Professional Hygiene produce sanitiser with 70 percent alcohol, it is 99.99% effective against germs and has added moisturiser, so it’s gentler on hands. What’s more, it’s produced locally, which provides jobs in Australia and ensures supply is more reliable.
The team at Tork have also designed and manufactured a range of modern, sturdy floor stands, counter stands and wall brackets which are also made in Australia. They’re a handy, stylish way to place sanitiser wherever you need it.
If you switched from Jet air dryers to paper towel during the pandemic due to hygiene concerns, did you assess the sustainability of the towels? Where are they produced; are they certified; are they made using renewable energy? Sometimes it’s impossible to know the answer to these questions. But there are brands you can trust. Tork paper towels are made with Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC®) certified tissue in New Zealand or Germany. The New Zealand products are made using geothermal steam in production which has reduced the greenhouse gas emissions at the Kawerau manufacturing site by 46 percent.
Helping the earth recover
The amount of waste that has been produced as a result of the pandemic is mind-boggling. With disposable masks, gloves, PPE and sanitiser bottles – waste to landfill has increased exponentially.
So while a reduction in COVID numbers will result in a reduction in waste, we will need to further reduce our waste in the future to meet environmental targets and find our way back to our zero waste goals.
Opportunities for composting and finding more uses for recycled materials will help. Tork hand towels are compostable and can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 50 percent through composting them commercially.
As the number one professional hygiene brand in the world, Tork is at the forefront of sustainability and is striving for a better world.
