TSA makes historic agreement with hospitality industry to reduce single use plastic

At least 100 tonnes of plastic a week could be saved with sustainable alternatives

The Textile Services Association (TSA) and UKHospitality are heralding the agreement reached by representatives of the hospitality and laundry industries at their latest roundtable event as an extremely important step as they seek to reduce the amount of single use plastic waste created during the servicing of hotel linens.

Currently, single use plastic wrapping is used by laundries when transporting clean bedroom linen back to hotels. This generates about 100 tonnes of plastic a week, which is equivalent to 300 tonnes of carbon throughout its lifecycle. As only 9% of plastic waste is currently recycled, removing this from the bedroom linen laundry chain would be a significant contribution towards increasing the sustainability of both laundry and hospitality industries.

The roundtable, which took place at the Crown Plaza NEC in Birmingham on 31st January 2023, included representatives from some of the UK’s largest laundry companies and hotel groups, as well as the TSA and UKHospitality (UKH). They discussed the importance of reducing the reliance on single use plastics as part of UKH’s push towards removing it completely by 2030, and how each sector needs to work with the other in order to achieve this.

The discussion resulted in the hospitality industry agreeing to support the laundry industry’s work to remove single use plastic from the processing of bed linen.

This will require investment from laundries to bring in appropriate cages and washable cage liners that will replace the single-use plastic wrapping, in order to maintain the high standards of hygiene demanded. This process will undoubtedly take time to complete, which is why it is important that this initiative is driven by both industries as a whole.

“Removing single use plastic from the bed linen supply chain will play a key role in our Net Zero strategy,” says Tony Sophoclides, Strategic Affairs Director for UKHospitality. “This meeting marks an important step on our journey to making the industry as sustainable as possible.”

David Stevens, CEO of the TSA, agrees. “An agreement like this would never have been reached even three years ago,” he says. “This shows how much views have changed on the need for companies to take large scale action on environmental matters.  Now we are all walking the walk!”

With this agreement in place, the TSA will continue to expand efforts to support its members transitioning away from single use plastics as part of its on-going investment in developing sustainable solutions.

If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us either via email or phone: 

E tsa@tsa-uk.org

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TSA gears up to providing bedding to The Big Hoose

Gordon Brown introduces new project at the TSA’s national congress

The Textile Services Association (TSA) is proud to announce that it will be supporting the new National Family Centre Bank project to supply clean bedding and towels to families experiencing hardship.

The project was introduced at the TSA’s national congress by former prime minister, and the project’s patron, Gordon Brown. It allows families access to a range of useful goods such as kitchen items, toilet rolls, nappies, clothing and footwear and other household furnishings and goods. These families are identified through practitioners such as teachers, doctors, and social workers. It is being developed by the Cottage Family Centre in Fife, where it is known as The Big Hoose project, and will begin being rolled out in cities across the UK.

While the project has deals with a number of different businesses, including Amazon UK, to supply most items from surplus stock, the new deal will allow them to provide bed linen like duvet and pillow covers. These will be second hand stock supplied by UK Hospitality members, which will be cleaned by TSA members before being sent to the Family Centre Bank’s warehouse for distribution to those in need.

As well as filling a gap in the provision offered by the project, it helps to reduce the amount of textile waste generated by hotels by giving them a second life.


During his address to congress, Gordon Brown was extremely enthusiastic about the potential not just to help those in need but also help to tackle pollution by reducing waste as well as boosting the economy, and thanked the laundries that have become involved with the project. Nearly 50,000 families have been helped since the project launched, with over 320,000 items distributed. Mr Brown will be helping the project as it expands to other areas of Scotland and across the UK.

Pauline Buchan, Strategic Director for the Cottage Family Centre and CEO of the National Family Centre Bank, told congress more about the work and gave details on how businesses can get involved.

David Stevens, CEO of the TSA, is clear about the importance and potential of the new project. “Ensuring families in need have bedding is a big priority for The Big Hoose project, especially during the current energy crisis,” he says. “Congress was told about families that have no heating and no bedding. The National Family Centre Bank is a fantastic project, and we can make a real difference to people’s lives.” David urges laundries and suppliers who are interested in supporting the project to contact the TSA for more information about future plans and how they can help.

If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us either via email or phone: 

E tsa@tsa-uk.org

T +44 (0) 20 3151 5600