Interview to Karl-Stephan Schneider, general director of Mewa Spain

Mewa, distinguished twice like Mark of the Century in Germany, is known in Spain by his service of wash and reuse of cloths of cleaning, that includes the advice, the supply, the wash and the replacement of the same. The German company, created in 1908, directs his services mainly to the industry, the workshops and the printers, and guarantees a sustainable and respectful process with the environingingment. “Our cloths, of high resistance, delete paintings, oils, dissolvent or fats and absorb until 2,5 times his own weight”, explains Karl-Stephan Schneider, general director of Mewa Spain.

MEWA picks up, wash, dry, and returns clean 968 million annual cleaning cloths, clothes for approximately 946.000 people and 1.9 million mats. In total, throughout the Group wash volume reaches about 313 tons a day.

Since its implementation in Spain, we are very pleased by the interest and the evolution of companies that delegate to us the full service of reutilization of cleaning cloths. It is still a long way to go to reach the level of success and implementation in countries such as Germany, where the company was in 1908, but we are very optimistic and encourages us to continue growing in the Spanish subsidiary, where the brand enjoys great prestige and where it works very well, despite the current economic situation.

The quality standard of Mewa is always full, what varies are the needs of the companies to which we offer the service. The wide range of our cloths Mewatex allows to adapt the product and service specific demands mainly from the three sectors we work with (industry, workshops and printers). For each of them there are features that allow better absorption of oils, the removal of chips or waste of ink. For example, chips collecting cloths from the metallurgical activity are eliminated with stringent quality processes and, later, tissue is weighed to check that it does not contain additional waste.

In the case of the printing industry, in addition to having specific cloths for its high resistance to wear, longevity, smoothness and uniformity to care for rollers and plates, and a large force of absorption, help this type of companies to eliminate the bureaucracy of waste management.

We help our clients to comply with environmental regulations, since our cloths are not considered waste by Spanish legislation and, in addition, with our service release entrepreneur of repetitive tasks.

Yes, the credibility of our system and our cloths supports us for decades with the maximum satisfaction of our customers. In addition to taking care of the surface of the machinery and equipment that clean, these heavy-duty cloths have a high absorption capacity that removes paints, oils, solvents or grease. These cloths have the quality of absorbing 2.5 times its own weight, and even wet, resist breakage and wear.

Our absolute commitment to each client, offers guarantees customers that renew annually its trust with our service. But, in addition, our certifications are unmistakable seal of such assurances. In 1992 Mewa was the first company in its sector to become certified in quality with ISO 9001 and got certificate ISO 14001, environmental management, in what was also a pioneer in 1997.

Detailed audits assure the quality standards, as well as our internal processes of work, from the production of cloth until they are delivered to the customer. Example of this level of detail in the manufacture of cloths are measurements of precision which undergoes the thread of the cloth, which is key to ensure absorption and resistance. Control automatically, as well as other visual scale, shall ensure that there are no foreign objects that could jeopardize the clients machines.

Sustainability is one of our pillars. We were pioneers in the certifications of quality and environment in our sector, two aspects governing our work processes.

To increase profitability and reduce environmental impact, Mewa invests great effort in research. These procedures and infrastructure can save those seven million liters of diesel a year thanks to the thermal use of contaminants extracted in the process of washing and the use of heat exchangers. Thus, it covers up to 80% of the energy required for chains of washing and drying in the treatment of cleaning cloths.

An optimal amount of water and energy is consumed for washing the cloths and biodegradable detergents are used, also. Through a system of recycling the water used in the washing and rinsing, Cascade technique, you can save up to 50% water in relation to traditional washing processes. In addition, we have reduced the impact of detergents in 85% thanks to the optimization and the use of biodegradable detergents.

In search of Mewa for everything to be reusable, wastewater is also subject to a process of purification that is reached a degree of cleaning 99.8%, and this effort can be seen in the quality of the final product.

Currently we have more than 165,000 customers. Confidence and commitment with them is actually our greatest recognition, in a work that we carry out following strict guidelines on sustainability. These awards are a pride for us but, above all, an incentive to continue doing our job well and provide business solutions that enable them to grow professionally.