Our Sustainable Approach

Coming soon – Important changes being made to our quality hotel bed linen products

 

Embracing Sustainability: Our commitment to supplying eco-friendly hotel bed linen

We believe that sustainability is not just a trend but a responsibility, and as part of our ongoing efforts to create a greener future, we are excited to announce some significant changes are being made to our bed linen products.

We are in the process of upgrading our bedding products fill & fabric covers to include GRS rated & certified recyclable content, reflecting our commitment to environmental responsibility.

 

Why This Change Matters

As a supplier to the hospitality industry, we have a unique opportunity to enhance our sustainability journey. By selecting eco-friendly materials for our bed linen products, we are not only reducing our carbon footprint but also contributing to a more sustainable future.

This commitment reflects our dedication to responsible practices that benefit both your guests and our planet.

Benefits of Our New Bed Linen

1. Eco-Friendly Materials: the changes we are making to our bedding will still be crafted from high-quality, and soon to be included with GRS rated & certified recyclable materials that are kind to the environment. This means your guests can sleep soundly, knowing you’re making a choice that benefits the planet.
2. Superior Comfort: We understand that a good night’s sleep is essential for your guests, and the changes we are making to our bed linen, will continue to provide the same luxurious comfort you expect from us, ensuring that your guests wake up refreshed and rejuvenated.
3. Reduced Waste: By choosing GRS rated & certified recyclable content, we are actively participating in waste reduction efforts. This change is part of our commitment to sustainability, promoting a circular economy where materials are reused rather than discarded.
4. We can Introduce you to BlockTexx: Alsco uniforms are a founding partner of Blocktexx, who are a clean technology company that can recover polyester and cellulose from textiles and clothing, we can assist with your introduction to this amazing business whose mission is to lead a global movement towards a circular economy, by developing planet focused solutions that can divert your textiles waste from landfill and into sustainable products.  
5. Inspiring Change: We hope that our efforts inspire our valued customers and fellow industry leaders to consider sustainable practices in their own operations. Together, we can make a significant difference.

ALS’ Sustainable Business Approach

In 2018, Australian environment ministers established the 2025 national packaging targets, being 100%, 70% or 50% packaging to be reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2025, with problematic and unnecessary single-use plastic packaging to be phased out by 2025.

To make sure that ALS will meet or exceed these targets, we teamed up with a company called The Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO), who are a not-for-profit organisation leading the development of a circular economy for packaging within Australia. 

Their goal is to keep packaging materials out of landfill and retaining the maximum value of the materials. 

With our changes that we have already implemented into our business, we are currently classed as being an advanced business, placing our performance at 51%

Alongside our dedication to APCO’s 2025 goals, we aim to conduct our own business activities in a sustainable way. Our approach involves, Big, Bold, and meaningful group goals:

1. Partnering with like-minded Customers and suppliers
2. Giving back to the Community
3. Working on becoming an employer of choice for our People.
4. And working harder for the Planet.

We have been able to incorporate these values into our business through our sustainable packaging initiatives and our community partnerships.

 

As part of ALSCO Group, we are also committed to achieving our Big, Bold, Meaningful Group Goals, and by 2030, we hope to achieve four major sustainable goals including:

 

1. Net Zero Waste

ALS has an important role to play in reducing packaging waste and achieving zero net waste by 2030. Previously, our growing business meant that we were using an increasing amount of pallet wrap which created more plastic wastage.

Since removing pallet wrap altogether wasn’t an option, we were tasked with finding an environmentally friendly alternative.

The solution to this issue was resolved when we adopted Signet’s Enviro Film. This switch allowed us to eliminate 2000kg of virgin, unrecyclable plastic from our supply chain. Signet’s Enviro Film is 100% recyclable through soft plastics recycling channels.

It is composed of 30% recycled and certified post-consumer reclaim (PCR) and 20% renewable plant-based plastic produced from sugarcane.

Once we realised the sustainable benefits, we also substituted our plastic strapping tape with Signet’s reusable Velcro Logistrap. Unlike our previous plastic strapping tape, Velco Logistrap is reusable and recyclable.

Switching to Signet’s eco-friendly packaging solutions stopped 8000m of tape from entering the landfill. It also allowed us to become a sustainable linen supplier without compromising on quality.

Our commitment to APCO’s 2025 National Packaging Targets means that we regularly review our products to identify opportunities to reduce unnecessary packaging. By increasing pack sizes and supplying some products in bulk carton quantities, we are able to reduce packaging waste.

2. Improve energy, carbon, and water efficiency by 20%

Reducing our carbon footprint is one of the main focuses of our Big, Bold, Meaningful Group Goals. The first step towards this goal was ALSCO’s 2021 energy and carbon assessment which provided a clearer picture of our environmental impact.

A comprehensive energy audit of each branch was conducted, and the measurement of carbon emissions was divided into three categories: direct, indirect, and other. This assessment allowed ALSCO to identify key areas for improvement and develop strategies to meet our energy targets in the short and long term.

ALS business site

Metric	Improvement
Overall energy GWh	12.7%
Carbon CO2e emissions	13.1%
Electricity KWh	12.6%

 

ALS warehouse – We’ve made upgrades to our roof with more clear sheeting panels, allowing actual sunlight into the warehouse, meaning less powered lights is required during the day.

3. Invest $8 million in our staff and community

ALS recognises the importance of giving back to the community and one of the organisations that we have partnered with is CORE Community Services. CORE Community Services is a not-for-profit community organisation, offering services such as Aged and Disability, Children, Multicultural Communities, and Youth.

CORE Community Services offers an Intensive Support Program which provides transitional accommodation.

This service is available to young people and young families who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. The youngest and most vulnerable clients have access to 10 studio apartments connected to CORE Services’ Liverpool office. The program also includes 38 other units and houses across Liverpool and Fairfield LGAs.

All clients are provided with a furnished property including household furniture, kitchenware, linen, and appliances. ALS has been able to contribute to this program by supplying, assembling, and delivering packs of bed linen and towelling.

These packs were provided to participants of the Intensive Support program who were moving into their transitional accommodation.

4. 100% ethical supply partners

As part of ALSCO Group, we reject all forms of modern slavery, including slavery, servitude, human trafficking, and forced labour. We recognise and respect the human rights of everyone we work with, including our employees, customers, suppliers, and business partners.

We’re dedicated to sourcing products ethically and partnering with like-minded businesses who share our passion for sustainability.

ALS requires all our core suppliers to conform to a code of conduct. We have engaged with Intertek, a third-party auditor to implement a workplace conditions assessment program (WCA) to provide an independent assurance about the conduct of our factories in our supply chain.

ALS is proud of the accomplishments in becoming a more sustainable linen supplier to our industry. We’re constantly looking for new ways to incorporate our sustainable beliefs into our business practices.

Visit ALSCO’s Sustainability page to find out more about our future sustainability initiatives.