In short
- Waste is harmful to the environment. It is therefore desired to produce less waste.
- Cleaning company Asito transformed the blue gloves into a sustainable green one.
- Employee satisfaction was high during the pilot. The new gloves are now being used at multiple public transport stations.
Global Goal
Asito is future-oriented. That is why Alex Alkemade, location manager at Asito Transport and responsible for public transport cleaning, started looking for a "greener" variant of the blue glove a few months ago. The new glove is much greener, colour-wise and environmentally-wise. Alex: “It is a household glove that lasts for at least three weeks. At this moment we throw away 800 kilos of nitrile gloves per year. That’s quite a lot given that the gloves barely weigh anything. The new gloves are heavier and more expensive, but they last much longer if handled correctly. Additionally, the cleaning staff is very satisfied with the new gloves.” Cleaning employee Judith Dalfour says: “they don’t break so easily. I used to use around 4 to 5 pairs of gloves a day, and 8 or 9 on a busy day. However, now I’m already using the same pair of gloves for five weeks straight!”
“We’re saving around 730 kilos of gloves per year by switching to the new ones. This is a major saving, given that cleaning employees now use 4 to 5 nitrile gloves per day. We ran a pilot at the Amsterdam Bijlmer ArenA, Almere and Zwolle train stations. After this successful pilot we have decided to expand to all train stations in the Northeast region”, says Alex.
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Initially, Alex aimed to reduce environmental impact. However, throughout the process, employee satisfaction became an important factor as well. Cleaning employee Judith: “The blue gloves were too tight, in my opinion. The new ones are much stronger! I also like that they’re longer, and thus protecting my wrists. This way, especially at dirty jobs, my sleeves stay dry.”
Michael ter Harmsel, object (location, red.) leader at Asito Transport, supervised the pilot at the Amsterdam Bijlmer ArenA train station: “To my surprise, everyone is super satisfied with the new gloves. I expected that people would have a hard time getting used to the fact that they should now wash the gloves after use, or that the gloves are thicker. However, everyone is positive and does not want any other gloves.”