UK
Elis (formerly Berendsen) has been granted a licence to self-supply water and sewerage services. It is the first industrial organisation to be granted such an opportunity by regulator Ofwat.
As a large provider of outsourced laundry, focusing on flat linen, workwear, washrooms, floor solutions and cleanrooms – all of which require large volumes of water and produce large volumes of trade effluent – the ability to self-supply builds on the work that Elis has conducted to date to enhance water efficiency across its 32 sites across England.
A self-supply licence uniquely enables companies to be active participants in the open water market. This will not only help improve understanding of non-domestic water customer needs, but also fuel innovation and drive down consumption and costs in the longer term.
Waterscan will act as the company’s managing agent and provide technical support and services (including meter reading, CMOS transactions, wholesaler management and finding further water efficiency savings) while Elis will build direct relationships with wholesalers and pay water and sewerage charges through the settlement process.
“Self-supply is a logical next step,” said Neil Pendle, managing director at Waterscan. “It is an opportunity for Elis to build on the works it has already undertaken in implementing water cost and consumption controls and really take the company’s efforts to the next level. With water being such a key component in Elis’s business operations, any opportunity to act on this precious resource should be embraced. Self-supply offers just this opportunity and we very much look forward to demonstrating how it can bring about positive impacts to the company’s sustainability and financial agendas.”
Elis is one of eight organisations taking this route since the opening of the non-domestic water market. Hospitality giants Greene King, Whitbread, Marston’s and Coca Cola European Partners, Heineken UK and Stonegate Pub Company have all chosen to self-supply while Blackpool Council is spearheading change in the public sector.
Pendle added: “The granting of self-supply licences is an important step in realising the ambitions of all the companies involved but it also signals support for innovative approaches to challenge the status-quo in the water sector as a whole. With eight organisations now eligible to self-supply, we can begin to realise its benefits at scale.”
Information on self-supply can be found at: www.waterscan.com/water-self-supply.
