Christeyns launches enzyme technology to reduce wastewater costs
We are proud to announce the launch of our innovative detergency system EPIC. EPIC stands for Enzymatic Process Innovation by Christeyns and is based on enzyme technology, enabling laundries to reduce their wastewater costs by 25 percent.
Challenges in water management
Alain Bostoen, CEO of Christeyns: “Industrial laundries are facing several water challenges: the cost and availability of water, the cost of discharging wastewater and the ever-stricter environmental regulations concerning its discharge. With EPIC, we help laundries meet discharge standards and reduce wastewater costs. Currently, the technology is already being used in more than ten European laundries.”
Reducing pollution units
It is surfactants that give a detergent its cleaning properties. However, these components have a negative impact on wastewater quality. Thanks to the EPIC detergent system, these surfactants are reduced by 50 percent and supplemented by biological enzymes. This reduces the wastewater load by twenty to thirty per cent, providing substantial savings for laundries.
Tailored to the stain
Enzymes have been used in textile care for a long time. Enzymes have catalytic properties, i.e. the enzyme acts as an accelerator of certain chemical reactions. So, what makes EPIC so innovative? Olivier Mareau, application manager and EPIC project manager, explains: “EPIC is a flexible detergent system in which the enzyme mixtures are created and dosed according to the stain. These unique mixtures are dosed in the washing process separately from the adapted detergent. So, it is not a standard all-in-one detergent. Because we target stains, only a low dose of the mixture is needed for the desired effect. We applied for a patent for this unique enzyme mixture at the European Patent Office in July last year.
Carbon footprint
Working with enzymes requires expertise. In early 2019, our R&D department and Corporate Application team started developing the EPIC detergent system. These EPIC mixtures are produced on site at our customer’s premises to be dosed very precisely and safely directly into the wash process. This is done by means of an in-house developed and high-tech unit, which we named EPIX. Thanks to this EPIX unit we can dose 0.05 grams per kilogram of textile. A patent is also pending for this technology. “Because enzymes have a biological origin and because of the low dosages, you end up with a carbon footprint that is up to 20 percent lower compared to standard washing processes,” explains Simon Lambert, R&D manager Laundry Technology. “What’s more, this percentage can increase as the transport of chemical products to customers and their storage can be reduced by 40 to 50 percent.
Sustainable water management
Polluting water as little as possible and reusing it as much as possible: these are some of our objectives in the field of sustainable water management. Not only by adapting our chemistry and thus reducing the pollution load of the wastewater, but also by offering the right technology. Also in that context, we launched HydRO for laundries last year, through a joint venture with the Belgian company Veride. With this HydRO technology, laundries can reuse at least 80 percent of their process water.
