Cleaning up nicely

In the race to reach net zero, most eyes are on big emitters – power, transport, steel. But in an unassuming industrial unit just outside Swindon, a smaller revolution is quietly gaining steam. It is not particularly glamorous, but it may be one of the clearest blueprints yet for how to make net zero real.

 Oxwash is a commercial laundry company founded in 2018 by former NASA engineer Kyle Grant. What began as a student laundry service quickly turned into a deeper mission when Kyle saw just how outdated – and polluting – the laundry industry had become. ‘We saw huge facilities running steam powered and energy hungry machinery, with little consideration for conserving planetary resources,’ said Ella Wilkinson, Oxwash’s managing director. ‘It was clear the industry needed modernisation.’

Few realise that laundry is the second most polluting industry after concrete, primarily due to its vast energy and water consumption. The UK’s commercial laundry sector alone uses the equivalent of Lake Windermere every two and a half months – that is roughly 300 billion litres of drinking quality water every year, much of it heated with fossil fuel electricity.

Enter ‘Big Blue​ I​’, the company's Swindon facility – and Europe’s first industrial laundry site fully powered by clean electricity from day one. The project, made possible with infrastructure support from independent distribution network operator Vattenfall IDNO, has become a proof point for what is possible when clean thinking is paired with clean energy.

‘We believe that businesses shouldn’t have to choose between ambition and access,’ said Stewart Dawson, managing director at Vattenfall IDNO. ‘By helping forward thinking companies like Oxwash connect to clean electricity networks quickly and cost effectively, we are removing barriers to progress.’

For Oxwash, the difference has been transformative. Its hydro recycling system recycles up to 90% of the water used on-site, topped up with harvested rainwater. The company also filters 100% of microplastics from wastewater – far beyond what is visible to the naked eye. For context, each household laundry cycle can release up to 700,000 microplastic fibres, many of which end up in the ocean and food chain. The average person is believed to ingest the equivalent of a credit card's worth of plastic every week.

But this isn’t just a story of technology – it is a story of values. ‘We don’t just want to do better ourselves,’ said Ella. ‘We want to raise the standard for everyone.’ To that end, Oxwash regularly opens its doors to competitors, sharing data, giving tours, and encouraging industry wide change.

It is a mindset that is strikingly rare. As Ella explained, the company frequently hears from customers that rival firms dismiss even basic sustainability requests as ‘Ten to 15 years away’. For Oxwash, those same requests are already part of their operational norm. ‘There is no secret,’ she said. ‘Just willingness to invest, to prioritise, and to build the infrastructure to support your ambition.’

And that is where the role of companies like Vattenfall IDNO becomes quietly essential. While Oxwash leads on water, microplastics, and circular design, it is the reliable, scalable grid connection – delivered without delay or red tape – that makes it all viable.                                                                                                               

‘Too often, infrastructure is treated as an afterthought,’ said Stewart. ‘But if we want more clean tech businesses to scale, we need to ensure the grid is there to meet them. That is what IDNOs are here to do.’

Grid connection delays are increasingly cited as a leading blocker for net zero projects in the UK – especially for SMEs without in-house energy teams. Vattenfall’s model allows these companies to connect to clean power faster and with greater flexibility, removing a major obstacle to progress.

Customers are already taking notice. Oxwash’s clients, which include high footfall hotels and hospitals, often find themselves unsure how to cut emissions beyond the obvious. Changing linens less frequently or asking guests to skip daily towel changes can only go so far. ‘But laundry is one of those hidden emission sources that nobody thinks about,’ Ella explained. ‘We help them tackle Scope 3 emissions, which often account for over 70% of a business’s total carbon footprint – without them even needing to change their operations.’

There is also internal pride. Employees at Oxwash are chosen not just for skills but for alignment with the company’s mission. And projects like Big Blue, says Ella, have only deepened that commitment. ‘Every new milestone we reach becomes a rallying point,’ she said. ‘It is not just clean energy – it is clean purpose.’

Looking ahead, the company plans to replicate the Big Blue model across the UK, aiming for five similar sites over the next decade. With each new facility, the goal is the same: wash better, waste less, and widen the circle of change.

In a landscape where so many companies are still strategising their green goals, Oxwash is already in spin cycle. It is a reminder that you don’t have to be a global giant to lead the net zero race. You just have to start – and build the right foundations from the beginning – and sometimes, those foundations start with a grid connection.