ALEXANDRIA, Va., March 23, 2012—The Textile Rental Services Association of America (TRSA), the only association representing independent, regional and national laundry operators and associates in the $16-billion reusable textile services industry, celebrates its 100th Anniversary in 2012. Most Americans benefit at least once a week from the cleanliness and safety provided by the industry—through its laundering and delivery of reusable linens, uniforms, towels, floor mats and other products for the healthcare, hospitality and industrial/manufacturing sectors.

"TRSA members launder reusable textiles and provide other products and services that help businesses project a clean and attractive public image," said TRSA President & CEO Joseph Ricci, CAE. "Our industry reaches every major business and industrial region and city in the country."

Textile services companies maximize efficiencies for laundering uniforms, hotel and hospital linen, garments, and restaurant linen by utilizing high-capacity, high-speed laundry equipment to minimize cost and consumption of water, energy and chemistry. Most of these companies are family-owned and operated and have evolved from providing family laundry service in the late 1800s to serving the growing healthcare sector.

Looking back on consistent expansion through the past century, today the industry accounts for more than 200,000 individuals employed at 2,000-plus facilities nationwide. Recently, a lead story in the Money section of USA Today (2/23/12) profiled the increasing valuations of TRSA's publicly traded uniform rental companies and CBS-TV featured Boston-based UniFirst Corp. on "Undercover Boss."

TRSA calculates that 1.8 million U.S. business locations are textile services customers generating roughly 15 billion pounds of laundry per year delivered by the third largest fleet of vehicles behind only FedEx and UPS. Healthcare and hospitality businesses account for about two-thirds of the laundry volume with the balance to manufacturing and service industries that use customized work uniforms.

"Our industry has evolved as customer needs have evolved," noted Ricci, "Before the turn of the century, textile services companies delivered clean, reusable items by bicycle and horse-drawn carriage as a less costly, time-saving alternative. Reusable textile service has long been the greener, more sustainable alternative to disposable products, home and on-premises laundries by reducing waste and conserving water and energy."

About TRSA and the Textile Services Industry

Businesses use textile services as a less expensive, time-saving, environmentally friendlier alternative to managing and laundering their own uniforms, linens and other reusable products. Such outsourcing also improves morale, safety and hygiene. By cleaning millions of pounds of goods every year in each laundry location, TRSA member companies achieve tremendous efficiencies in labor and supplies. This lowers per-pound laundry costs and corresponding impacts on air, water and energy sources. Textile services further improve the environment by providing garments, sheets, towels and other reusables that substitute for single-use disposable items that generate more solid waste. Also offered are hand soap and sanitizer, restroom and first aid supplies, and cleaning and deodorizing chemicals. TRSA serves members by promoting and protecting our companies and educating their owner/operators, executives and management. Our advocacy, research, benchmarking, certification and other information-sharing resources guide their continuous business improvement including development of safer and environmentally friendlier management practices.