School puts system to the test
June 1st 2009

According to JohnsonDiversey, switching to concentrated products with precise dilution control gives environmental and cost saving benefits. It recently trialled the advanced J-Flex cleaning system at a high school in Wigan

MetroFresh is Wigan Council's in-house building cleaning services organisation, and in conjunction with JohnsonDiversey, it arranged a five-month trial to test J-Flex for hard surface, washroom and floor cleaning throughout St Edmund Arrowsmith Catholic High School."The school challenged MetroFresh to clean in a more environmentally friendly way, maintaining high levels of performance and cleanliness, with cost effectiveness," says Ken Baxter, operations manager,MetroFresh."And I believe that with the support of JohnsonDiversey,MetroFresh met that challenge."

Colour is the key JohnsonDiversey surveyed the site to identify the specific cleaning requirements in each area. Prior to the trial the cleaners had been using around eight different products.This made it complicated to manage cleaning tasks, raised the potential for errors and required more storage. J-Flex reduced the range to just three colour-coded products: red for washrooms, blue for hard surfaces and green for floors – supplied as concentrates in sealed J-Flex units."It was easy to train the staff because of the simple colour coding," says Ken Baxter.

The units connect to a cold water tap in a cleaning cupboard with a supplied J-Flex hose kit.The system is entirely transportable, there is no fixed equipment and the existing plumbing is not altered in any way.Water passes through the J-Flex unit to deliver precisely diluted product directly into a colour coded spray bottle.This ensures optimum dilution for high performance cleaning while reducing the risk of using the wrong product. It also prevents cleaning staff from coming into contact with undiluted chemical.

For the trial, JohnsonDiversey installed twelve sets of J-Flex equipment at locations around the school and provided product and COSHH training to the 18 strong team of supervisors and cleaners.

"The MetroFresh staff at the school are very positive about the new system and appreciated the rationale behind the trial," says Ken Baxter.MetroFresh provided JohnsonDiversey with information about the conventional cleaning products used at the school in the preceding 12 months as an accurate benchmark.This ensured that results of the trial are based on like-for-like comparisons.

Top marks for results The use of concentrates meant that less packaging was required than with the previous ready-to-use products. Plastic waste was reduced by 38.8kg during the trial, equivalent to 93kg a year.Concentrates also reduce 'chemical miles' associated with transport. Based on industry accepted parameters,MetroFresh and JohnsonDiversey estimated that the reduction of CO2 during the trial, including manufacturing, distribution and disposal, equated to 50.6kg (121kg for the year).There was an energy saving because J-Flex is formulated for use with cold water.Over the five month trial, just over 7400l of water was used, but this did not need to be heated.

Precise dosing with J-Flex also eliminates the risk of over-using chemicals. Based on comparable costs of J-Flex and conventional cleaning products at the time of the trial, JohnsonDiversey estimated that the monthly spend using its products would be 3–4% higher if the most economical size of containers were purchased.However, it believes the slight increase in costs is more than offset when comparing the savings in water heating before any qualitative benefits are taken into account."In fact, the monthly electricity saving with J-Flex is more than the monthly cost of cleaning product, whether J-Flex or the previous products, so it could be argued that the switch would be cost-negative," says Mike Kennedy, senior business development manager for JohnsonDiversey in the North West.

Because the J-Flex products are supplied in concentrated formats the volume required each month is much lower than with ready-touse.

This reduces the amount of storage required, often a major concern in schools where there is limited space in cupboards.The school has to pay for its refuse collections and anything that reduces the amount of waste leads to lower costs over time.The company says that if the system were to be used on a long term basis, and at more schools, supplying products in larger sized containers and agreeing a suitable pricing structure would prove even greater economies.

"We have already seen the J-Flex system work very well in large sites in the contract cleaning and facilities management sector.This trial has proved that it also works very well in a high school," says Mike Kennedy.The school has continued to use the J-Flex system, and the cleaners at the school won the MetroFresh 'Cleaning Team of the Year Award' for their efforts in supporting the trial and its success.

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