ALEXANDRIA, Va. —At a high-level meeting last week at the headquarters of the Environmental Protection Agency, officials of the EPA’s Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics and the Textile Rental Services Association (TRSA) continued their positive relationship by collaborating on plans to promote and document the steady elimination of nonylphenol ethoxylate (NPE) from wash chemistry.
The meeting followed EPA’s May 9 release of its analysis of NPE alternatives, which cited TRSA’s “industrial/institutional (I/I) laundry” constituency phasing out NPEs. EPA cited laundry wash chemistry formulators’ response to market demand for NPE alternatives and laundry operators’ pledge to eliminate NPE in saying the industry is “well along the way to reaching phase-out goals.”
The cooperative effort began in 2010 when TRSA told EPA that it would lead an industrywide phase-out of NPEs from all liquid detergent formulations by Dec. 31, 2013, and all powders one year later.
“This meeting with EPA officials represents continued cooperation between TRSA and regulators. I am pleased with the quality and expansion of our relationship,” says TRSA President and CEO Joseph Ricci.
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