Cleanzine: your weekly cleaning and hygiene industry newsletter 18th November 2021 Issue no. 993
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  International News
Products ICE - Autonomous cleaning and sustainability solutions
New strategic partnership will expand US distribution of odour control range
New team forms to support Italy's cleaning industry and public health & safety Given the persistence of the pandemic, the Cleaning & Services Interassociative Team (TIPS) has been formed to bring together the main associations representing Italy's professional cleaning sector: those representing cleaning and those for the manufacturers and distributors of professional cleaning equipment. Sodexo appoints Philip Leigh as UK & Ireland healthcare CEO
Microban International appoints new president and senior directors
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Welcome to the Cleanzine
The original Cleaning & Hygiene industry e-news WRAS, the Water Regulations Approval Scheme, is using World Toilet Day tomorrow, to call for manufacturers to reach some sort of consensus when it comes to the design of dual flush systems. Having seen the many options available, I've realised we're wasting huge volumes of water as a result of there not being a national standard (let alone a global one!). Unless we can all start truly working together, we don't stand a chance of realising our goal of tackling the global sanitation crisis and providing 'sanitation for all' by 2030. Water, in many parts of the world, is a scarce commodity and we must conserve as much of it as we can if we're to provide everyone with all that they need.
Dual flush toilets were introduced to help us use only the flush water we need and while I've come across them in many countries, I've never thought deeply about the problems we're collectively causing by pressing the wrong button (or both, just to be safe!). Choosing the smaller flush saves around two litres of water. WRAS's new research featured images of 18 typical dual flush designs and the 2,000 people asked to identify the short flush buttons proved that as many as eight in 10 are inadvertently wasting water and money by pressing the wrong button. Over half incorrectly identified the short flush in five out of the 18 designs. In the worst example, 81% selected the wrong button. Even the best designs were not 100% perfect... Every single one of the designs confused at least some respondents. Scale that up to a global level and it becomes scary! The research did highlight which types of designs were easier to understand: Clear, permanent markings, such as one droplet for the short flush and several for the long flush, are brilliant, and while most people naturally expect a smaller button to mean a smaller flush, the bigger button needs to be 1.5 times bigger than the smaller one to achieve around 80% recognition. I can't fathom the thinking behind the designs that use a larger button to produce a short flush and neither could the survey's respondents who found this the most confusing design. If the cleaning industry can make enormous headway with colour coding systems for products and equipment, surely sanitaryware manufacturers can reach a consensus over dual flush designs - particularly when it's long been proven that symbols and pictures work far better for people of different tongues!
Yours,
          This Week's News
SoftBank Robotics EMEA expands into Denmark
Under the agreement, the companies will now offer Whiz, Europe's first industrial cobotic vacuum sweeper, to its facility management and cleaning contractor clients. Campden BRI testing proves HyGenikx kills airborne Coronavirus
The results of the trials proved that HyGenikx removed up to 99.99% of an airborne Covid-19 surrogate in under three hours.* New Hi-Genic mousepad features Polygiene ViralOff to provide hygienic protection
Polygiene ViralOff is a textile treatment that reduces microorganisms by over 99% on the material*. 'Rapid Cycle' - Oxwash secures £500K in 15 hours
The company, founded in 2018 by ex-NASA scientist and Forbes Europe's 30 under 30 alumni, Dr Kyle Grant, and Oxford engineer Tom de Wilton, secured £250,000 from five angel investors including Magnus Rausing (Tetra Pak), Kal Patel (ex-CEO of Best Buy) and Vala Capital, in addition to a quarter of a million from 318 public Crowdcube investors. RAS supports first preschool under the Happy Toilets at Preschools Projects Grant
The pre-schoolers also created educational posters and decorated the toilets. Acquisition of Pro Clean reinforces The Harvard Companies leadership in Florida
Pro Clean is a commercial cleaning and facility services organisation founded in 1989 and will be rebranded as Pro Clean, a division of Harvard. Don Zerivitz, president of Pro Clean, will join the Harvard management team. Bunzl completes two further acquisitions
Workwear Express (pictured), based in Durham, UK, is a leading business in personalised workwear and promotional clothing with a strong e-commerce focus. The business serves a broad range of customers and in the year to March 2021 generated £29 million of revenue. Bunzl completed the acquisition of Workwear Express towards the end of October.
The UK's largest and most important event in the cleaning & hygiene sector, The Cleaning Show, welcomed more than 4,600 visitors through its doors when it made its triumphant return to London early this month. It marked the industry's first physical event since the UK's national lockdown was lifted, coming at a critical time as cleaning lands high on the agenda of businesses across the country. Opening the event, Nigel Mills MP, chair of the Cleaning & Hygiene All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG), welcomed visitors and exhibitors, highlighting the important role the show plays in bringing the industry together to celebrate the sector and facilitate business. He paid tribute to the industry and the role cleaning & hygiene operatives have played over the past 18 months and highlighted how the APPG would help shine a light on an industry that was once overlooked. Outstanding C & G course success wins Eric Hill Award for South Thames Colleges
This year, it acknowledges South Thames Colleges Group for having the highest exam success rate for the City & Guilds ‘Practical Cleaning Skills’ course and has presented it with the Eric Hill Memorial Award. The Cleanzine Archive Search We keep an extensive archive of news stories and product information that have featured in past issues of The Cleanzine. If you would like to run a search of the The Cleanzine web site using the search tool below please just go ahead by entering in the name of the person, product or company or any other key words that you are looking for. How to contact us at The Cleanzine:
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Our weekly updated Hospital Hygiene features current developments and product solutions cleaning and hygiene industry manufacturers are coming up with. Read More. Recent UK News
WCEC launches Chartered Practitioners' Register to entire cleaning industry at Cleaning Show 2021
Terry Burrows retains window cleaning crown
Industry leaders delighted as apprenticeships bid clears first hurdle
'Severe' cleaning & hygiene staff shortages could hit Covid-19 recovery, warns industry body
Nielsen puts shine on new International Training Centre with £100K investment
Guaranteeing health and hygiene for RSPCA
Keep Britain Tidy's Ocean Recovery Project collects a record 1,000+ broken bodyboards
Deadline extended for entries into top awards
CSSA hosts first ever live Clean Start Event to attract young talent to the industry
10 tips for successfully scaling your cleaning business
Principle wins Crick Award for supporting 'World Class Science'
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