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Lavamac Continues its Sustainability Drive!

In the past year, Lavamac have continued to grow our sustainability project, with focus on rebuilding and refurbishing existing washing machines and dryers rather than buying new, not only contributing to a greener way of life, but also saving our customers money!

We have recently set up a specialist facility in St. Neots, near Cambridge, in which we are going ahead with this specialist refurbishment programme. This programme involves purchasing existing machines, and replacing the parts on them, so that they are as good as new, whilst retaining the look and feel that existed before, but with a massively increased lifespan, and a warranty on the machines that’s as good as a warranty on a new machine to go with the refurbishment too.

Our refurbishment programme in our specialist facility includes stripping down the machines, and giving them a check-over, to see which parts, if any, can be carried over the refurbishment. Lavamac will only carry over the highest-quality parts from the machine from pre to post refurbishment. The machine then undergoes an extensive refurbishment, with almost all the parts being replaced, with the refurbished machines being given specialist parts based on the model type.

Recently, the team in St. Neots completed a refurbishment of 3x SD stacker machines, with the top half being dryers and the bottom half dryers, which are pictured. The refurbishment included a complete re-wiring of the machines, a change of approximately 80% of the parts and a complete re-spray of the machines to get them looking as good as new. This has been installed at a local laundry in Chester, and the machines are looking great!

One of the questions we are asked a lot about the refurbishment programme is why we are doing it, rather than buying new machines. The reasons are many, but a couple of them are that the refurbishment process means that the machines that we are refurbishing cut down on waste. By using an older machine, and spare parts, we can ensure that as little of the old machine goes to waste as possible – only the parts that are tested as faulty are replaced. This means that there is less wastage going to scrap, which cuts down on our carbon footprint. Another reason that Lavamac have been pushing the refurbishment programme forward is the savings that we can pass onto customers. A typical refurbished machine can cut down on price by approximately 40%-50%, depending on the model of the machine, saving our customers money!

We recently have been awarded a bronze award in sustainability by the groundworks trust, affirming our commitment to the sustainability industry – however, as much of a compliment as it is, it does not mean that the hard work stops there! The next step on our journey is to hopefully be awarded the prestigious silver sustainability award! For this, we need to ensure that our carbon emissions are being cut down from our vans, continue our sustainability and refurbishment programme and to keep making green decisions within the company!