Industry News
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Disinfectant Product Demand on
Rise
Increased hygiene awareness
and health consciousness are favorably influencing the
disinfectants market, which is projected to reach $2.46 billion
globally by 2012.
According to San Jose,
CA-based Global Industry Analysts, Inc.’s “Disinfectants: A
Global Strategic Business Report,” general public awareness
regarding problems associated with antibiotic-resistant bacteria
and other infection causing agents has also contributed to
market growth.
Demand for disinfectants that
sanitize food preparation surfaces is also growing, given the
increased risk related to foodborne pathogens and other
contaminants.
In response to robust demand,
manufacturers have introduced new and advanced products,
including specialty disinfectants to satisfy varied needs of
consumer and industrial users. Washing powders and liquids
modified with disinfectants have also been introduced as a form
of value addition to existing products.
The European disinfectants
market, largest worldwide, is estimated at $1.13 billion for
2008, according to Global Industry Analysts. The disinfectants
market in Asia-Pacific is expected to grow fastest, registering
a of 4.3 percent over the period 2001-2010.
North America and Europe
collectively account for over 80 percent of the world market. In
the US, demand for disinfectants in industrial processing is
forecasted to record a of 3.8 percent over the period 2001-2010.
Global market for disinfectants in pharma & health care
industries is projected to reach over $330 million in 2015.
The global marketplace
includes participants such as 3M Co, Ecolab, Henkel KGaA,
JohnsonDiversey, Kao Corp, Procter and Gamble, Reckitt
Benckiser, SC Johnson & Son, The Clorox Company, Unilever Plc
and Zep Inc.
JohnsonDiversey NA Prez
Resigns
JohnsonDiversey Inc. has
announced the resignation of North American Regional President
Tom Gartland, who has decided to pursue a new leadership role in
a different industry.
His resignation was effective
April 30, 2008.
I appreciate the leadership
Tom has provided to our North America Region,” said
JohnsonDiversey President and CEO Ed Lonergan. “Tom has led with
distinction for the past five years. He brings passion and a
sharp customer focus to everything he does, and our company has
benefited from his influence.”
Mr. Gartland joined the
company as part of the DiverseyLever acquisition in 2002, after
working in a variety of capacities in the DL business since
1994. He assumed his current role as regional president in March
of 2003.
The company is beginning a
broad search for a successor to Mr. Gartland. In the meantime,
Mr. Lonergan said he has asked Vice President for Canadian
Operations Domenic Rapini to lead the day-today North American
operations during the period of the search.
Zep Names Former JDI Exec VP
Zep Inc., a distributor of
cleaning and facilities maintenance supplies, has appointed
Philip Snellen as Vice President of Industrial Distribution.
In November 2007, Zep
announced, as part of its strategic, profitable growth
initiatives, its plans to enter into the $6.4 billion Industrial
Distribution market. Snellen will be directing and managing
those efforts.
He joined Zep in early 2007 to
head the Industrial Marketing team. Under his leadership, his
group developed such new products as the Company’s GreenLink
line, which includes products certified by Green Seal, EcoLogo,
DfE, and Zep certified environmentally preferred products.
Prior to joining Zep, Snellen
filled a variety of executive positions during 10 years at
Johnson Diversey Inc. His duties at Johnson Diversey included
managing a regional sales force that called on distributors,
healthcare facilities, building service contractors, school
systems and industrial accounts. Prior to his tenure with
Johnson Diversey, Mr. Snellen rose in the ranks of Melbourne,
Australia-based, Gibson Chemical Industries to become Division
Manager.
“Philip is uniquely qualified
for this position since he brings over 20 years of experience
developing, launching and managing alternate channels of
distribution within the specialty chemical marketplace,” said
William A. Holl, executive VP and Chief Commercial Officer of
Zep Inc. “He has a deep understanding of the dynamics required
to successfully drive both direct sales and distributor
organizations. As a result, he has a firm grasp of both the
challenges and opportunities that exist for alternate channels
of distribution for our products.”
Facility Management Equals
Environment Management
Facility managers make up the
largest group of “multi-disciplinary built environment
specialists,” says a sustainability expert who will be
participating in the European Facility Management Conference to
be held June 10 and 11 in Manchester, England.
People’s behavior contributes
to climate and environmental protection, but it is particularly
up to those who influence conditions of living and working:
facility managers. Facility management (FM) builds the
infrastructure of organizations and is responsible for energy
and water supply, waste management and building materials of
premises and estates.
“The FM profession represents
collectively the largest group of multi-disciplinary built
environment specialists,” says Gordon Ludlow, sustainability
expert at the British Institute of Facilities Management (BFIM).
FM combines
expertise in technology, ecology, economics and law.
According to Christopher Hodges, board member of
the International Facility Management Association (IFMA),
“Facility managers control the operating costs of the facility,
and they have the greatest amount of influence on the
productivity.”
Climate change, however, does not only require
measures for environmental protection, but also for building
safety and catastrophe prevention. “Companies are exposed to
many risks due to the climate change, but they are not prepared
for the respective effects yet,” warns Barend van Bergen, a
director of KPMG Sustainability Services. The audit and
consulting company published the “Climate Changes your Business”
report in March and recommends optimizing the risk management
systems. This is another challenge for the facility managers
since FM is a strategic business.
The European Facility Management Conference 2008
(EFMC) will deal with the climate change and other global
challenges of facility management. It will be hosted by IFMA and
the European Facility Management Network (EuroFM).
More than 60 FM experts from Europe and overseas
will discuss sustainability and energy efficiency, risk and
change management as well as economic and technological trends.
Added value and profitability of FM, service and quality
management, globalization strategies and international
partnerships are other main topics.
Gerba: Sometimes It’s Better
Not to Clean
Sometimes it may be better not
to clean a surface than to clean it with soiled cleaning tools
because it can spread microorganisms around without you
realizing it, according to Dr. Charles Gerba, microbiologist
with the University of Arizona and a well-known researcher on
disease and germ transmission.
Gerba says that as some
cleaning tools, such as sponges, mops, microfiber cloths and mop
heads, as well as conventional cloths, are used, “they actually
become micropile compost heaps. In many cases, [the cleaning
worker] is just laying down a thin layer of E. coli over the
surface as they clean.”
This was made clear in a
series of soil removal tests that compared conventional cleaning
methods and products with high-flow fluid extraction
technologies such as spray-and-vac cleaning systems.
To test the surfaces and
determine whether contaminants were present, an ATP monitoring
system was used. ATP, or adenosine triphosphate, is a molecule
found in all animal, plant, bacterial, yeast, and mold cells.
Its existence on surfaces is usually considered a “red flag”
that potential disease-causing germs and bacteria are present.
In one test, a floor was
thoroughly cleaned and then tested for ATP. A low reading of 25
was measured, which was used as a benchmark. Then a grape, which
contains very high levels of ATP, was spread over the tile
floor. The ATP jumped to a very high concentration level of
7267.
The same area was then mopped
with a new microfiber mop head soaked in a hospital-grade
disinfectant. After cleaning the surface, ATP levels dropped to
1479. “But surprisingly, surrounding tile areas saw their ATP
reading jump from 25 to nearly 700—over 27 times greater than
initial readings,” says John Richter, a presenter at last year’s
Cleaning Industry Research Institute (CIRI) symposium and an
engineer and researcher with Kaivac, Inc.
According to Richter, soils
and contaminants can become entangled in mop fibers and are
redistributed in the cleaning process. “This means the
microfiber mop head, as it became soiled, actually spread
contaminants to nearby tiles, causing cross contamination,” he
says.
The second part of the test
involved using a high-flow fluid extraction/spray-andvac system.
Again a grape was spread over a clean surface with an initial
ATP measurement of 25. After the grape was applied, the reading
jumped to nearly 8000.
“We cleaned the floor using
the same disinfectant but with the high-flow fluid extractor,
but this time the ATP level dropped to 27,” says Richter.
“What’s more, the ATP level on the surrounding floor areas
dropped even further to about 20, indicating no evidence of
cross contamination.”
Similar tests were conducted
on student desktops using microfiber cleaning cloths and a new
flat-surface cleaning system (FSC). Here again, the
contamination levels as measured by presence of ATP were
improved only somewhat with the microfiber, but dramatically
with the FSC.
“Many cleaning professionals
don’t realize that the cleaning tools they use [can give] germs
a free ride around a facility,” says Gerba. “The professional
cleaning industry must recognize that they are really in the
health-care business. Preventing cross contamination and
effectively removing soils and contaminants reduces illness and
helps keep people healthy.”
SCA Tissue NA Names New Prez
Don Lewis has been named
president of SCA Tissue North America, effective April 1, 2008.
Lewis was formerly SCA Tissue Senior Vice President, Sales &
Marketing, a position he held since joining the company in 2001.
Prior to joining SCA, Lewis was Executive Vice President at
Encore Paper, which SCA acquired in 2001 upon entering the North
American market.
A native of Ohio, Lewis, 46,
has 21 years of experience in the paper industry. After
graduating from Youngstown State University, he began his paper
career with Fort Howard Paper Company in Green Bay.
Lewis recently spearheaded SCA
Tissue’s seamless transition from a company with a variety of
acquired brands to the single Tork brand of its parent company,
creating the first global Away-From-Home brand in the industry.
He also has played a major role in building SCA Tissue’s
reputation for innovation and environmental leadership and for
customer relationships that have earned dozens of national
vendor awards.
“SCA Tissue has come a long
way in seven years to establish itself as a major presence in
the North American tissue market,” Lewis said. “As the only
major paper company focused solely on the Away From Home market
in North America, we have built our reputation on being closer
to our customers. As we move forward, the needs of our customers
will continue to be at the center of everything we do.”
Lewis replaces as president
Joe Raccuia, who also came to SCA Tissue from Encore Paper,
where he was president and CEO. “SCA Tissue is in excellent
hands under the guidance of Don Lewis,” said Raccuia, who has
left SCA Tissue to pursue other opportunities. “Don has helped
drive our business to higher levels of performance and success
and I am confident he will continue to do so.”
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