U.S. Linen Wins Richland ‘Green’ Award

U.S. Linen & Uniform, Richland, WA, recently won the Green Business of the Year award from the city of Richland, according to an article posted on the Tri-Cities/Yakima, WA, NBC affiliate’s website.

Rick Snyder, general manager of U.S. Linen & Uniform, detailed the changes the company made at its plant. “We put in a microfiltration wastewater system,” Snyder said. “And it’s removed 95% of the waste that’s in our water. And along the way we’ve saved 10 million gallons of water last year.”

U.S. Linen & Uniform is a certified TRSA Clean Green company. In addition to the eco-friendly additions Snyder mentioned, the company also invested in transportation software to help optimize driving routes, saving the company fuel and travel time; and installed a state-of-the-art wastewater treatment system that reduced water use by 50%, natural gas use by 25% and reduced the amount of fats, oils and greases in its wastewater by 95%. Additionally, U.S. Linen & Uniform has taken other steps to conserve energy, and reuse, reclaim and recycle resources.

“It’s not easy to go green, it seems like its easy but you have to change your whole operation, and reanalyze everything,” said Gail Everett, environment education coordinator with the city of Richland.

Snyder added that, “The entire thing, adding on to the building, the equipment, the installation, everything was about a million dollars. We probably won’t ever make that million back, but we’re doing our stuff for the environment, and that makes it all worthwhile.”