GOUDA, HOLLAND — Bill Fisher, CEO of the Drycleaning & Laundry Institute (DLI), and Chris Tebbs, DLI’s international director and executive director of the International Drycleaners Congress (IDC), recently spoke at the International Committee of Textile Care (CINET) conference. More than 40 industry professionals from around the world attended the workshop, held June 28-29 in the Netherlands.
The conference theme was “Environmental Measures & Sustainable Drycleaning.” Fisher discussed environmental regulations in the United States and Europe, with an emphasis on DLI’s 10-year cleanup; Tebbs continued with “Environmental Measures in Drycleaning Globally.”
Fisher led six discussions during the two-day conference, covering cleanup technologies, liabilities, a remediation cost/benefit analysis, and a behind-the-scenes look at DLI’s draft of what became the model for several state cleanup funds. Drawing on his experience with the subject, Fisher proposed “best-practices” strategies for future cleanup programs worldwide.
Tebbs then discussed sustainability and environmental measures in drycleaning in the developed world, eventually speculating on which solvent might be the safest investment given today’s regulations. “My answer was, ‘Probably only water, but then there is a growing worldwide shortage of water,’” Tebbs says. “What we really need is that ultimate, non-VOC, non-hazardous-to-health-and-environment solvent with the cleaning properties of perchloroethylene.
“Until that momentous day arrives, the industry will be best served by having competent, well-trained drycleaners who constantly apply best business practices in order to ensure that we do not put ourselves under unnecessary pressure,” he says.
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