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ESS, the Defence, Energy and Government Services sector of Compass Group UK & Ireland, has completed the roll out of chemical free cleaning across its Defence and Government Services estate, providing safety benefits for colleagues and clients and decreasing the environmental impact of the service.
The company has partnered with suppliers Tersano and Toucan Eco to deliver the project. The selected systems create powerful cleaning agents from tap water; Tersano using oxygen and Toucan Eco using table salt. Both produce fast-acting antibacterial multi-surface cleaners that kill more than 99.99 per cent of bacteria and microorganisms, including enveloped viruses like Covid-19.
The cleaning solutions generated are non-toxic, non-hazardous and non-allergenic to humans and animals. They cut exposure to chemicals for cleaners and building users and reduce the need to store hazardous substances on site.
ESS cleans over 21 million square metres a week for its clients. Introducing chemical free cleaning has removed 1.5m litres of chemical cleaning products and 50 tonnes of packaging waste from the business annually, delivering substantial environmental benefits. As well as chemical and single use plastics reductions, there is a decreased carbon footprint from deliveries. As the cleaning solutions revert to water after use, no harmful substances are disposed of into the water system.
Following successful trials in a variety of settings, the technology has been introduced at 90 ESS locations and is a key element in a suite of systems designed to deliver the best results for clients. Chemical free cleaning now forms a standard part of ESS’ cleaning offer and will be implemented in any new contracts where it is a good fit for the infrastructure.
Mark Webster, Managing Director – ESS Defence, Energy and Government Services, commented: “It’s fantastic that we’ve been able to partner with Tersano and Toucan Eco to deliver chemical free cleaning across our estate. This is a great example of innovation that delivers multiple benefits – the systems are highly effective for our clients and customers, safer for our people to use and support us in reducing the environmental impact of our services in our drive towards Net Zero.”
Steve Hengsperger, Founder and CEO – Tersano, said: “Working together for several years, Tersano and ESS have been providing a safe and sustainable alternative to traditional cleaning chemicals: from the first installs in Canada’s northwest wilderness, to contracts in the Caribbean and Australia’s outback. Tersano is now thrilled to support ESS in defence and government sites across the UK. We are committed to a sustainable future by keeping our people and our planet safe, reducing GHG emissions and contributing to Compass’ Climate Promise.”
Steve Courtney, Toucan Eco Specialist – Robert Scott,added: “Working with ESS to introduce a robust chemical free cleaning system across its defence and government estate has been a privilege and we’re delighted with the feedback from the business so far. Toucan Eco only requires tap water and table salt; it’s a proven solution that will last up to seven days once activated, so it’s ideal to make in batches for use across the large sites that ESS manages.”
