A hotel with roots from the 40s but with a modern freshness – just like the Swedish Textile Service Association. What could be more fitting than to gather there for this year's annual meeting?
So in the heart of Gothenburg at the classic Elite Park Avenue Hotel, around 15 meeting participants met on May 135th and were able to join in on an active day full of inspiring lectures.
As usual, we were welcomed by one of the political representatives from the conference city. This time by the municipal councilor Blerta Hoti. Since the turn of the year 2022/2023, she has been the municipal councilor in Gothenburg with responsibility for preschool, children's and cultural issues. From the autumn of 2019, she was a municipal councilor in opposition. Previously, she has been a political expert in the Ministry of Defense for the Minister of Defense Peter Hultqvist, worked for the Social Democrats in the European Parliament and at the band at Volvo.
Sustainability a key factor
Blerta gave a very engaging talk about sustainability as a key factor for the city and warmly welcomed us to Gothenburg. Blerta also presented the Swedish Textile Service Association's Sustainability Award 2025, which recognizes two award winners who each contribute in their own way to increased sustainability within the industry.
The two award winners in 2025 are Lars Larsson and Christer Bäcker, who were awarded the Textile Service Industry Sustainability Award. In cooperation with Ecolab, it was awarded for the ninth year in a row.
Creating a sustainable laundry in Ystad
Entrepreneur Lars Larsson, from Ystad, is passionate about making Hemrex as sustainable a company as possible since 2014. Through the newly built laundry, completed in 2024, Lars has taken the full step from a traditional dry cleaner to a laundry that uses the latest technology for advanced laundry, utilizes energy optimization and produces almost all of the electricity for the business from 450 square meters of solar panels. Through his company, Lars also takes an active social commitment and supports initiatives for young people through local commitments and associations, and in addition supports Star for Life, which works for school children in southern Africa.
Energy advice for a changing market
Energy expert Christer Bäcker, through his specialization in the energy market and in finding purchasing strategies to secure long-term good prices for electricity and gas in a volatile market, has contributed with tireless energy to our members having the opportunity to achieve a stable price picture and thereby ensure sustainable economic sustainability. Through conscious choices, economic sustainability has gone hand in hand with ecological sustainability, as finite and climate-impacting fossil energy has been cost-effectively phased out towards renewable alternatives.
Honoring youth
The prize money for each winner is 5 kronor, a sum that they have the opportunity to donate. Christer has decided to make a scholarship for the young water conservationist Edvin, 000 years old, who on his own initiative is working to restore a riverbed that is important for aquatic animals in Hälsingland.
Lars has chosen to donate the prize money to the promising tennis junior Melker Andersson, also 14 years old, from Ystad.
After the award ceremony, each laureate gave a scholarship lecture.
Annual meeting with re-election
Then followed the traditional annual meeting of the Laundry Association. The election committee convener, Carl-Johan Björkman, was pleased to note the good spirit in the board's work and proposed re-election across the board. The proposal was met with approval and quickly confirmed with skillful blows of the gavel by chairman Michael Sandin.
A traditional swing
Another cherished tradition is that someone from the Streijffert family wins the Laundry Association Golf Tournament with the subsequent responsibility of organizing the next year's competition. Peter Streijffert therefore took the opportunity to invite to the pearl of eastern Sweden – Öland.
Current news about producer responsibility
On the agenda for the morning were two more lectures – first up was Birgitta Losman, Borås University.
Birgitta Losman is a sustainability strategist at the University of Borås and has previously been a special investigator for producer responsibility in textiles and a regional councilor in the Västra Götaland region.
The lecture “Collection of textile waste and producer responsibility – what is happening in Europe and Sweden?” presents examples from the government mission Textile & Fashion 2030 and a demonstrator for a sustainable textile system. The lecture highlighted current issues around textile recycling and producer responsibility in Sweden and Europe.
A journey of change
Andreas Beirholm then took over. With the help of Bureau Veritas, Beirholms Væverier has investigated the carbon footprint from raw materials to laundry (scope3) and the presentation covered various examples and described Beirholm's journey of change.
Photos: Robert Tye, ABS
Then it became standard
After all this knowledge, it was time for a different form of intake. Lunch was served on the lower veranda. The chefs had prepared Sweet Chili and soy baked salmon with rice, coriander, lime and toasted sesame seeds.
When we gathered after lunch, the train schedule had to be changed somewhat. The trains from Stockholm were severely delayed, and instead we first had the pleasure of listening to Carina Lund, Almedahls Alingsås, and Annika Sandell, HejMar, with the lecture Standardization – A joint effort or, to put it another way, Standards – a necessary evil or a valuable tool?
Annika, who is the chair of SIS/TK332 – Healthcare Textiles and a member of SIS/TK333 – Surgical Textiles, and Carina, who is a member of both committees, gave a very insightful description of the importance of standards and how the work is organized.
Extend lifespan
The next program item could also be recommended. The company RecoMended is known from TV's Draknästet and as Textilia's sustainability scholarship holder and Rikard Ledin da Rosa, one of the founders, took over the stage.
RecoMended offers a comprehensive range of services tailored for textile and fashion companies looking to extend the lifespan of their products. The services act as a comprehensive solution to enable scalable and circular business offerings.
With a scalable business model and a high degree of automation, innovative processes are provided to sort and restore used textiles through repair and refurbishment on an industrial scale.
Time to network
Afternoon coffee was another great opportunity for networking. The carrot cake was also a huge hit.
Then we finally got to welcome Jonas Roupé, the National Association of Tire Specialists. This after all the sorrows and sorrows of the trip. His lecture was entitled
Laundry and tires – paving the way for systemic change in a troubled world. How do societally important industries navigate in a time of new demands, fragile systems, and increasing geopolitical tensions?
It was a journey into the tire industry's work with circular economy, preparedness and sustainable business development - and how workshops and laundries have more in common than you might first think.
At the annual meeting, he shared insights from the world-unique work done within Swedish Tire Recycling – and gave an insight into how the tire industry in Sweden thinks about sustainability, preparedness and the business logic of the future.
In his lecture, he touched on, among other things:
– What does the National Association of Tire Specialists think about sustainability and social contracts?
– Why recycling is not enough – and what is needed for real system change
– What is so world-leading about Swedish Tire Recycling?
– How producer responsibility and circular material flows can create radically better or worse futures
– How sustainability can become a strategic asset even for small players
Index a key
Another person affected by SJ's delays was Mr Index – Stefan Pettersson. Stefan has always been a good friend of the Swedish Textile Service Association. He was a speaker at the 2017 annual meeting and an exhibitor at the 2019 Autumn meeting. Stefan told us that in his new role as CEO of SBI Svenska Branschindex AB, he will take on the task of replacing SCB as the producer of the laundry and textile service index and 19 other industry indices from 2026-01-01. SBI is in full swing getting different parts of the company in place and not least building index models.
Then it was AHA
The biggest AHA experience of the day was still the closing lecture with André Andersson, Scribill.
Scribill is a leading player in the training and implementation of AI technologies, with a focus on ChatGPT, which makes AI accessible and usable for companies of all sizes that want to streamline processes, optimize resource use, and develop AI expertise.
As the co-founder and CEO of Scribill, André is passionate about providing companies with the knowledge and tools needed to successfully integrate and leverage AI into their workflows. With his practical and engaging training style, he has taken over 3000 participants from theory to practice.
Streamline your business with AI – An introduction to ChatGPT
During the lecture, André highlighted concrete areas of use where ChatGPT makes a real difference and gave examples of how companies can benefit from the technology to streamline communication and work processes.
André also shared knowledge on how to best adapt ChatGPT to a company's specific needs. This included adjusting the AI's creativity level, tailoring the AI assistant's personality to a company's unique needs, and writing prompts that generate desired results.
A tasteful ending
After a truly appetizing day, the final dinner was at least as good as the menu sounded. Skagen toast with crispy apple served on buttered toast topped with trout roe. Spiced roast beef fillet with roasted root vegetables flavored with honey, thyme & garlic, served with potato cream and red wine sauce & tarragon emulsion. Berry compote & Bavarian cream flavored with vanilla and crispy chocolate.
It was a tasty end to a nutritious day with good opportunities for intensive networking. Another year has been added to the agenda and the next one is already rolling.
Many thanks to those who participated, not least our partners Beirholms Væverier, MAXI-PRESS and ABS.
