Could wasted linen be a thing of the past?

IT'S ESTIMATED that 280 tonnes of linen is being discarded annually by UK hotels due to tanning stains – but help is at hand. The problems keeping laundry bosses awake at night were made clear at a recent Textile Services Association conference. 

Leaders at the TSA National Congress 2026 highlighted that the global commercial laundry industry is facing three key challenges: staffing shortages, rising costs, and the need for increased investment in technology. Research presented by Joe Ricci, based on input from hundreds of executives, showed strong alignment between UK and international concerns, with workforce capability and cost control seen as critical priorities.

Technology - particularly AI -is viewed as a major opportunity to improve efficiency and productivity, although its success depends on retaining skilled workers. Sustainability also emerged as a distinct priority in the UK, driven by customer expectations and regulation, with industry leaders emphasising that innovation will be essential to achieving both operational and environmental goals.

The sector’s senior suite is worrying about rising costs, how to operate more sustainably, staffing shortages and the accelerating need for investment in technology.

Linked with the first two of those topics is the sheer amount of good linen still going to landfill or rag due to marks and discolouration that could be tackled with the right specialist processes.

According to the TSA, a woeful 55% of hospitality linen is discarded before it is six months old. And the streaks and tinges associated with sunless tanning are a big reason for the ‘early exit’ of so many towels, sheets, duvet covers and pillowcases.

25% of linen not meeting standards is due to fake tan

The popularity of fake tan shows no signs of abating, as more people of all genders opt for bronzed bodies – especially when taking a minibreak or a full, summer holiday.

This means about 25% of linen from laundries serving UK hotels deemed to be substandard is beingbinned due to tanning stains, compared with 20% three years ago.

At Regenex – where we revive pure whites or come up with stain-covering over-dyeing options for our wide range of laundry and hotel group customers – we now estimate that a quarter of bedding and towels we receive for treatment is marked by self tan.

In general terms, it is good news that people are not relying on the sun’s harmful rays to provide them with their desired glow, and risking the health implications related to excessive sunbathing. But there’s no denying it’s a headache for hotel and holiday let housekeeping.

Despite the increased sophistication and variation of tanning products, commercial laundry processes still tend to ‘bake in’ stains to white bedding and towels, meaning issues continue to worsen.

Any hopes that tanning might go out of fashion seem futile. Analysts predict the value of the global self-tan market will hit £746.3million next year after growing by a steady 4.3% annually, with Britain accounting for 15.3% of this market.

Should there be a fake tan tax?

Regenex first looked in detail at the sunless tanning phenomenon and its effect on the laundry industry back in 2023. We calculated the cost of fake tan to UK hospitality was £1.8m in ruined linens – a fifth of items discarded – and this is now circa £2.2m.

So how do we come to this total? Well, the TSA estimates 2000 tonnes of linen is thrown away every year and 56% of all linen in commercial laundry systems is from the hospitality industry. 

If we assume a quarter of the 1120 tonnes of linen binned annually by hotels and holiday lets is marked with fake tan, that adds up to 280 tonnes – the equivalent weight 250,000 sheets, not that it’s only sheets that are affected. Replacing this would cost £2.24m based on the typical cost of good quality hospitality linen typically at £8 per kilo.

It certainly adds up to a major issue. When we first highlighted the problem, we grabbed the attention of national media including ITV Good Morning Britain, the broadcast show debated, should there be a fake tan tax?

Unnecessary as this sounds, some sort of surcharge could be good idea – perhaps in the same way that guests pay extra for bringing their dogs on holiday, though it could be much harder to enforce.

The colour science of sunless tanning

In thinking about solutions, it can be helpful to consider the science at play. When self tanning, the same type of reaction occurs to human skin as during the baking and roasting of meat.

Fake tan or self-tan is typically manufactured with 1% dye, a significant concentration of colour. Dyes are usually synthetic and derived from petrochemicals.

While putting tan-discoloured sheets in the washing machine at home can successfully remove the colour, commercial laundry processes cannot help but ‘fix’ the stains meaning repeated washings do not remove them.

This brings us back to the preoccupations of laundry owners and managers. With outgoings for rising across the board, from labour to replacement linen and utility bills, bosses are thinking harder about how they can minimise the impact of wrecked sheets, duvet covers, pillowcases and towels.

Considering how to keep more good stock in circulation for longer is part of this. Laundries have got good at recycling – we all know that unwanted linens can be reprocessed and no-one wants to feel they are contributing to the UK’s continuing textile waste problem.

Self tan and sustainability

In laundries’ efforts to ramp up our environmental policies – that other looming to-do list task for owners and managers – waste increasingly is properly sorted and segregated.

This is a good, commendable ethos. However, far more effective in carbon terms is the simple reuse of resources – or not buying them in the first place.

The concept of reuse is still under-explored in most businesses. Getting the most out of every resource at work – whatever that item is – represents exemplary practice.

Developing thrifty habits and keeping and using things for longer is far preferable than using materials then recycling them. That’s why reuse is listed as the second best option for what to do with something instead of simply throwing it ‘away’, in the well-established and respected Waste Hierarchy.

This ranking of waste management options, by what is most beneficial for the environment, is endorsed by the UK Government and others, and recognised as guidance for best practice.

Recycling is only the third best process on the list of five, followed by other forms of recovery and disposal to landfill or incineration.

The need to hang onto every towel and pillowcase

A total of 70% of the carbon footprint of each item of linen is accounted for in its manufacture and transportation. Subsequent washing and moving between sites amount to just 30%, so it makes sense to use every sheet, pillowcase, and hand towel for as long as possible.

As well as doing the right thing for the planet, sustainable organisations with robust sustainability policies are the ones that will thrive and prosper in the years ahead.

It’s no secret that banks, other lenders, and investors, as well as potential commercial partners awarding contracts, favour operations with a genuine desire to head towards net zero, and an action plan to prove it.

So, partnering with the people in and around the sector who can help with any aspect of this mammoth task, can pay dividends.

Just one such player in the sector is Regenex, which now processes stained and discoloured linen for more than 20 laundry groups across the UK, returning good items to stock – including those marred by fake tan – that would otherwise have been condemned to rag or landfill.

Using gentle multi-bath processes and recycling and recirculating hot water on site, Regenextreatment is helping hospitality brands to save money and minimise their carbon emissions – the sort of solutions that can help those laundry bosses get a good night’s sleep.

Paul Hamilton is technical director at Regenex

For more information, visit www.regenex.co.uk