Why Energy Cost Savings Could Be Sitting Untouched Across Australia and New Zealand’s Laundry Industry

Australian and New Zealand laundry and linen services operators could be sitting on significant untapped energy cost savings – yet most are yet to take the structured approach needed to find and capture them.

Energy advisory firm DETA Consulting says the pattern is consistent across energy-intensive commercial operations: businesses know energy costs are a problem, but without a clear plan, the savings opportunity goes unrealised.

Managing Director Jonathan Pooch says the businesses making real progress on energy costs are not necessarily the largest or most sophisticated operators – they’re simply the ones that have done the groundwork.

“Most businesses know energy is a problem, but they don’t know what to do next,” he said.

“They might have one idea or have heard about a technology, but they haven’t done the groundwork to understand what actually works for their site or when to act.”

Energy cost pressures are continuing to build. Australian manufacturers and commercial operators are now paying nearly 50% more for gas than they were in 2019, according to a 2025 report by the  Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis.

For laundry operations – where process heat, hot water and steam are central to production – that cost pressure is felt directly on the bottom line.

DETA’s work with Alsco Uniforms, one of Australia and New Zealand’s largest industrial laundry and linen services operators, illustrates what a structured, long-term approach to energy planning can deliver.

Rather than reacting to cost spikes or chasing one-off projects, the work focused on building a pipeline of opportunities – heat recovery systems, baseline efficiency improvements, electrification and alternative fuel initiatives – and executing them across multiple sites as economic and operational conditions aligned.

Alsco’s Energy and Utilities Manager Haris Murtaza said the approach had delivered measurable results across both countries.

“We have reduced emissions by 31% in Australia and 60% in New Zealand relative to production,” Mr Murtaza said.

“The staged approach has also helped us secure more than $1.5 million in government grants and identify over $500,000 in energy cost savings.”

Mr Pooch said the results reflected what was possible when energy planning was treated as a strategic priority rather than a reactive one.

“By the time something forces your hand, you’re making decisions under pressure,” he said.

“If you’ve already mapped out your options, you can move fast and make better decisions when those trigger points hit.”

“The businesses that keep missing opportunities aren’t unlucky. They’re unready. And the fix isn’t complicated – it’s groundwork that most organisations simply haven’t prioritised.”

Mr Pooch said improving energy performance doesn't require a large upfront investment, but it does require the right sequencing:

• Conduct a current energy audit to establish a baseline and understand where consumption actually sits across the site
• Identify and cost a pipeline of projects, not just a single initiative
• Understand funding eligibility before rounds open, not after
• Stage projects so they can be executed quickly when conditions – cost, technology, or policy – align
• Track trigger points such as equipment reaching end of life, energy price movements, or new program announcements
  

“Energy is an area where most businesses have more control than they realise,” Mr Pooch said.

“The savings are there. The projects make sense. What’s missing for most businesses is simply the preparation to act when the opportunity arises.”