GERMANTOWN, Md. — A brand-new technology designed to drastically reduce the use of water and energy is being introduced for commercial, institutional and industrial laundry operations.
The new laundering system, manufactured by Xeros Inc., has recently been installed in several sites in the United States, including at Crest Advanced Dry Cleaners, a retail drycleaning and laundry operation with 10 plants in Virginia and four in Maryland.
The Xeros system uses a proprietary polymer bead technology to achieve mechanical action, and the manufacturer claims it has already reduced water consumption by 80% and virtually eliminated the use of energy in the wash process in these first U.S. installations.
The new technology is generating savings at three plants for Crest. Last month, a representative of American Laundry News toured the company’s new plant and laundering system here in Germantown, some 30 miles north of Washington, D.C.
The Xeros laundry system has also been installed in Choice Hotels and in the Hyatt Regency in Reston, Va.
“Water and energy costs are three times higher in Maryland than they are in Virginia, so it was really a no-brainer for us to install the Xeros technology at our high-volume plants,” says David Slan, president and CEO of Crest Advanced Dry Cleaners. “Our new plant really revolves around the efficiencies of the new laundry system.”
BEHIND THE BEADS
The technology for the Xeros laundry system—Xeros means “dry” in Greek—grew out of research at the University of Leeds in Great Britain in 2007, according to Jonathan Benjamin, president of Xeros Inc. The system began trials in 2009.
In addition to its U.S. installations, the company has installed the system in plants in Germany, Belgium, Great Britain and Poland.
In April, the company completed its Initial Public Offering (IPO) of stock on the London Stock Exchange. It has set ambitious growth targets for itself.
“I’m confident that we will have 150 installations worldwide by the end of 2014,” Benjamin says. A “sizable chunk” of those installations will come from the hotel industry, he predicts.
The company’s laundering system is currently contract manufactured in the United States; Sheffield, Great Britain; and China. The technology can either be purchased or leased from the company.
“We are absolutely fanatical about customer support,” Benjamin explains. “We live and breathe that every day. We hold ourselves accountable for the success of our system. You really have to support the customer in every way possible and not cut corners. You have to be picture-perfect with a new technology. There is no margin for error.”
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