12 Feb 2024

GECA has applauded Busways for impressive environmental gains through new sustainable cleaning practices implemented at 19 Busways sites in New South Wales and South Australia.

Busways began using GECA certified products for washing buses, depot cleaning and employee hand hygiene 13 months ago.

Since then, the cleaning solutions have kept Busways’ fleet sparkling through 46,000 bus wash cycles while leading to –

• An 80% reduction in chemical drum packaging going to landfill,

• Saving over 10,000 litres in chemicals manufactured, and

• Reducing transport emissions with 14.6 fewer tonnes of freight shipped to Busways sites**.

GECA CEO Josh Begbie commended Busways for its commitment to sustainability by switching to lifecycle ecolabelled products.

“By procuring GECA certified products, Busways has made a better choice for its employees, customers and our planet and positioned itself as a leader and innovator within the industry,” Mr Begbie said.

“The products used by Busways from our licensees, Chemform and SC Johnson, have been independently assessed against critical environmental, health, social and quality criteria across a product’s entire lifecycle, from the extraction of raw materials to the end of its life.”

Busways COO Chris Wolf says the investment in using certified lifecycle ecolabelled products has contributed to lowering its ecological footprint and shows their commitment to prioritising enhanced environmental and safety outcomes for 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 while proving they perform as promised,” Mr Wolf explains.

Ian Prasetya from supplier Klenall Industrial Suppliers (KIS) said KIS worked collaboratively to help Busways realise their sustainability goals while enhancing exterior bus maintenance.

In 2022, Busways won the 2022 Bus Industry Confederation (BIC) National Industry Environment and Innovation Award and the BusNSW Environment and Innovation Award for various initiatives, including procuring GECA certified cleaning solutions.

** Figures are sourced from KIS reports on Busways' site usage showing quantities of packaging, liquid products supplied and transport for product delivery.