By Healthcare Facilities Today

AmeriPride Services has been certified Clean Green by TRSA, the leading textile services industry association. The addition of this coast-to-coast operation to the Clean Green roster accelerates “green” competition in the industry to an unprecedented level, as AmeriPride is the largest chain to receive the certification since its 2012 inception.

Healthcare facilities seeking linen and uniform supply and other laundered products now can find a Clean Green laundry in 33 states plus Puerto Rico. Nine of these have only one certified facility: an AmeriPride laundry. The same can be said for seven Canadian provinces, home of AmeriPride’s Canadian Linen brand.

For the most part, the 130 Clean Green certified facilities (owned by 41 different companies) are located in the more populous states and provinces. Also, many of these laundries are near borders; their service areas extend for hundreds of miles into neighboring jurisdictions. “Most workplaces across the continent can be served by at least one nearby linen supplier or industrial launderer certified for its efficiencies and conservation practices through Clean Green,” explained TRSA President & CEO Joseph Ricci. “AmeriPride’s certification has significantly increased this availability.”

Clean Green improves the environment by prompting textile services to conserve water and energy and adopt the industry’s best practices for reusing, reclaiming and recycling resources. This reduces the carbon footprint of hospitals, nursing homes, surgery centers, clinics, labs, urgent care and other outpatient facilities that use these laundries. Healthcare customers also receive exceptional value as Clean Green laundries wash, dry, finish and deliver sheets, towels, washcloths, scrubs, patient and isolation gowns, lab coats and other textile products with maximum efficiency.

“AmeriPride recognizes that Clean Green enhances their competitiveness through increased credibility,” Ricci continued. “Certified companies’ green business practices are quantified and verified. They adhere to complex inspection and audit criteria enforced by a highly reputed third party.” Clean Green encompasses a standard developed by ASTM International, which involves top technical experts, scientists and environmental professionals worldwide in delivering standards unparalleled in building consumer confidence in product and service quality.

TRSA expects hundreds more U.S. and Canadian laundries to follow AmeriPride’s lead. Across the economy, businesses are demanding more evidence that long-term commitments to outsourcing providers will pay off. “‘Green’ no longer means just ‘environmentally friendly,’” Ricci observes. “Buyers are looking for sustainability, that their suppliers can maintain efficiencies to perpetually offer high value.” As textile services seek long-term contracts and renewal of service agreements with healthcare customers, Clean Green testifies with unmatched authority to laundry operations’ resilience.

Find a local Clean Green certified textile services operator at www.TRSA.org; learn more about the certification at www.cleangreen.org.

About TRSA

Based in Alexandria, Va., TRSA (www.trsa.org) is the only organization advocating fair, balanced regulation and pro-business tax, labor and energy policy for the $16-billion U.S. textile services industry that employs nearly 200,000 people at more than 1,500 facilities nationwide. TRSA also provides professional development, benchmarking and training resources that increase productivity and efficiencies for companies that launder reusable textiles, which help businesses project a clean and attractive public image. Most Americans benefit at least once a week from the cleanliness and safety of laundered, reusable linens, uniforms, towels, mats and other products the industry supplies to the service, industrial/manufacturing, hospitality and healthcare sectors. TRSA quantifies our industry’s commitment to cleanliness and sustainability through our Clean Green and Hygienically Clean certification programs.

About AmeriPride

Headquartered in Minnetonka, Minn., AmeriPride Services is recognized as one of the largest uniform rental and linen supply companies in North America. Operating more than 115 production facilities and service centers throughout the United States and Canada, AmeriPride provides linen and towels, uniforms, floor mats, restroom and cleaning products to nearly 150,000 customers every week. Founded in 1889 by George and Frank Steiner, the privately held company is still owned and managed by the Steiner family. Commitment to the customer, personalized service and innovation has sustained the company for 125 years. Additional company information can be found online at www.ameripride.com.