Australian bus and coach operator Busways has been commended by GECA for its environmental gains through new sustainable cleaning practices implemented at 19 of its sites in New South Wales and South Australia.
Over the past 13 months, Busways has been using concentrated, GECA-certified, non-toxic, biodegradable detergents for washing buses, depot cleaning and employee hand hygiene.
The cleaning solutions have kept its buses clean through 46,000 bus wash cycles while leading to an 80 per cent reduction in chemical drum packaging going to landfill.
GECA says that Busways has saved more than 10,000 litres in chemicals manufactured and reduced transport emissions with 14.6 fewer tonnes of freight shipped to Busways sites.
GECA CEO Josh Begbie says Busways should be commended for its commitment to sustainability through these certified products.
“GECA’s third-party assessment procedures are trusted and rigorous, looking at impacts across a product’s entire lifecycle, from extraction of raw materials to the end of its life,” Begbie says.
“Our licensees, Chemform and SC Johnson, had their products independently assessed against critical environmental, health, social and quality criteria.
“By procuring GECA-certified products, Busways has made a better choice for its employees, customers and our planet while positioning itself as a leader and innovator within the industry.”
Busways chief operating officer Chris Wolf says the investment in certified, eco-labelled products has contributed to lowering the operator’s ecological footprint and shows its commitment to prioritising enhanced environmental and safety outcomes for its employees and communities.
“People can be confident that the cleaning products we use have undergone a transparent, independent, third-party assessment against science-based criteria for a wide range of environmental, human health and social impacts across their entire lifecycle,” Wolf says.