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UK Waterless Machine Company Xeros Plans to Enter North American Market
Green Technology Featured Articles
October 23, 2012

UK Waterless Machine Company Xeros Plans to Enter North American Market

By Shankar Pandiath
TMCnet Contributor

Xeros Ltd., a United Kingdom-based startup responsible for the development of “virtually waterless” laundry cleaning, is all set to roll out this technology to North American commercial laundry industry.

Laundry, especially at hotels and restaurants, consumes massive quantities of water, but Xeros’s disruptive technology can soon change the way we wash our clothes.

Xeros’ technology is the result of the ongoing research of Stephen Burkinshaw, who has long conducted studies on how to embed dyes onto fabrics with polymers while minimizing water usage. After all, more and more companies are adopting dye processes that eliminate water.


Burkinshaw realized that dyes behave similarly to stains, and began to combine little polymer beads with a small amount of detergent. The combination launches a molecular cleaning reaction that pulls stains out of clothes and into those beads.

Xeros says its process is up to 30 percent cheaper than conventional laundry for several reasons. The Xeros system saves up to 90 percent of water usage compared to front loading laundry systems and gives the same performance as conventional washing. This cleaner replaces water with polymer beads, alongside a fraction of the detergent, to absorb and remove dirt – potentially providing significant benefits in energy use, water efficiency and lower effluent.

It also drastically cuts down on the total amount of water needed for the overall cleaning process. Apart from saving on water, the cleaner uses 50 percent less cleaning chemical and 50 percent less energy.

According to a company executive, the payback from investing in a single machine is less than a year.

The polymer beads can also be used up to about 500 times and can then be recycled.

The environmental benefits could also be significant. The U.S. alone uses the equivalent of over 19 million swimming pools full of water for its domestic laundry needs. With “almost” waterless technologies like that of Xeros using only 10 percent of the water needed for conventional washing machines, the potential to save 1.2 billion tons of water annually opens a huge potential market for the company. The reduced amount of energy needed to run Xeros’ machines translates to a carbon footprint reduction of almost 40 percent.

Xeros’ technology eliminates almost all of the water required to run a load of laundry and relies on a new polymer technology.

Bill Westwater, chief executive officer at Xeros Ltd., said their scientific breakthrough in the U.K., combined with forward-thinking U.S. entrepreneurs, is a great example of how our two countries can come together to lessen laundry’s carbon footprint.

As of now, the largest Xeros installation is in Manchester at a commercial linen service, and the company is close to signing up with a large dry cleaning chain in the United States. A machine for household use is on the drawing board for 2014.




Edited by Braden Becker


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