Life Cycle Assessment of an industrial laundry: A case study in the Italian context

Abstract

Industrial laundries need large amounts of energy and water and, thus, generate large amounts of wastewater, due to the core washing, drying and ironing processes and to the transport of linen and chemicals. The presented Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA) concerns an Italian industrial laundry, and is based on primary data collected from the facility, complemented by information from literature, supporting databases (Ecoinvent 3.8), and technical datasheets. The analysis covers the entire cycle of linen processing (material extraction and manufacturing, transport, logistics, laundry processes, wastewater treatment and reuse, packaging, and solid waste management). The defined Functional Unit (FU) is 1 kg of linen. The LCA, carried out by SimaPro 9.2 and ReCiPe 2016 H, indicates a total impact of 12.77 mPt/FU, chiefly deriving from washing (4.62 mPt), ironing (4.29 mPt), and drying (1.56 mPt). Detergents and washing agents contribute significantly to the impact of the washing phase. 'Fine particulate formation' is the most affected impact category (5.18 mPt). The initial results suggested that generating renewable energy on-site could reduce the environmental impact by 19.7%. Solar photovoltaic panels were installed in 2023, and the actual energy production exceeded expectations, indicating an even greater reduction in the laundry environmental footprint.