# Healthcare Benefits

Source: https://www.purlinens.com/hospitality/healthcare

Pürlin's Zero Laundry - Zero Waste™ linens simplify healthcare facility operations while protecting patients with hypoallergenic, clean, single-use linen products.

## Pürlin's Closed-Loop Patented Recycling System

Pürlin® is a *Zero-Laundry* *Zero-Waste™* linen system that is 100% recyclable. Pürlin® linens are delivered in vacuum-sealed, ready-to-use packs applied to patient beds. After single-use, linens are collected and disposed into Pürlin®-specific receptacles for recycling in the EVS department. Pürlin® transports used products to the recycling plant, where they are melted at 510℉, ultimately reconstituting linens into plastic pellets that are then subsequently used to make new fibers into new Pürlin® products.

## Environmental Impact

Per the CDC Statement on Guidelines for Environmental Infection Control in Health Care Facilities (published 2023, p.113-118 and 153-154):

- The US launders an estimated 5 billion pounds of health-care facility items annually
- Laundries are the largest users of water in the hospital

○50-70% consumption of total hot water used

○10-15% total energy consumption of hospital

- “Hygienically clean” laundry carries negligible risk to healthcare workers and patients, provided that the processes of flush, main wash, bleaching, rinsing, souring, drying, pressing, and packaging are followed properly

Pürlin® products and the Closed-Loop Recycling System have multiple positive environmental impacts:

- Water and energy savings
- Eliminates wastewater production
- Recyclable fibers reduce textile waste disposed in landfills

## Allergen and Disease Transmission Control are Top Healthcare Industry Priorities

If traditional laundering methods are not properly followed, including precise control of water and drying temperatures, injection of measured amounts of chemical disinfectants, and minimizing exposure to environmental contaminants, harmful bacteria and other pathogens may survive the washing process and place patients at risk for disease transmission or cross contamination.

Pürlin® products protect patients by providing healthcare facilities with single-use, hypoallergenic, clean linens that are free of detergents, dyes and chemicals. Linens are delivered vacuum-sealed, in ready-to-use packs that protect from environmental exposure. Pürlin® linens are 100% recycled via a heat-intensive melting process through which bacteria and other pathogens are unable to survive.

### Ready-to-Use

Pürlin® seamlessly integrates into the Healthcare Operation. Pürlin® linens are delivered to the hospital ready-to-use, in vacuum-sealed packages including a complete sheet set for each bed. After each bed change, the linens are collected in a designated area within the Environmental Services department, and picked up for transport to the recycling plant.

### Operational Savings

Pürlin®’s *Zero Laundry – Zero Waste™* linens deliver operational cost savings with regard to labor utility, cost of detergents and chemicals, electric and gas use, equipment maintenance, and inventory replacement / lost linen costs. Pürlin® also eliminates the substantial amount of water required to launder traditional cotton-based linens.

### Protect Your Patients

Pürlin®’s hypoallergenic, pH balanced, single-patient-use linens provide the ultimate protection from bacteria, viruses and other disease transmission resulting from the improper care of communal bed linens. Patients can rest assured that they do not have to worry about cross contamination, skin irritation, or disease transmission with Pürlin® products.

> “U.S. hospitals are water hogs, using an average of 570 gallons of water per staffed bed, per day...with water and sewer rates rising between 5 and 10 percent every year in many parts of the country, investments in hospital water efficiency programs can provide attractive returns.”

> — Jennifer Silvis, Healthcare Design Magazine