A family company... in every sense
The Scottish Nappy Company is a family business which is run for the benefit of families and the environment.
The Team
We are a family-run business, with two generations involved in the running of the service
and a more recent third generation who has provided invaluable assistance in product
testing. We are by now a hardened group of real nappy veterans, and we have two drivers,
three laundry assistants and an agent who have joined our ranks. We regularly don't smile,
but the photographer caught us here on an off day.
The service has been operating since March 2000 and is based at the Olympic Business Park near Dundonald, Ayrshire.
The Ethos
We're fairly passionate about protecting the environment; all the business decisions we've
made over the years have had environmental considerations as priorities. For example,
deliveries are made in our environmentally-friendly LPG vans. They are dual-fuel Ford
Transits which mainly run on propane gas resulting in a 90% reduction in harmful
emissions.
We selected an operational site on the basis of its rural location (to minimise the
potential for airborne pollution affecting clean nappies) and its proximity to our homes
(to reduce commuting distances). Our site selection is especially gratifying as we are
re-using what used to be part of a plastics factory!
Our most recently purchased washing-machine and corresponding dryer are only the second of
their kind to be installed in the UK. The washer stores final rinse water (which is
relatively clean) from one load and re-uses it in the first prewash of the subsequent
load of nappies; while the dryer has a heat-exchanger which uses the exhaust gases to
preheat the cold air entering the dryer, reducing gas consumption by up to 30%.
As part of our nappy service, we ask our customers to return the empty plastic bags from
the previous week's delivery of nappies. We take them all to BPI in Greenock (a plastics
factory) for recycling. We've been doing this for six years now, and it seems that the
supermarkets are starting to follow suit - at last!
These are just some of the extra ways in which we are helping keep the country green.
The Operation
The laundry has been partitioned into two main divisions - "dirty" and "clean". The
batches of used nappies are dropped off by the delivery vans straight into the dirty
section of the laundry where they are then pre-sorted. The nappies then get washed and
moved to the clean side for drying, inspection, sealing into batches, and storage.
We operate industrial-specification electric washing machines and natural gas dryers. The
washers are computer-controlled so that accurate water temperatures can be reached and
sustained to levels in excess of NHS Executive guidelines. They are regularly tested to
ensure correct detergent dosages, water temperatures, and wash & rinse cycle durations
are maintained.
As with the laundry itself, the insides of the delivery vehicles have been specially partitioned into two sections - one for transporting the clean nappies and the other for the used ones. This avoids any possible cross-contamination of the nappies while in transit; a risk which is negligible anyway as the fresh nappies are hermetically sealed in heavy-gauge plastic bags with a high resistance to puncture prior to being stored.
