World of Books Group

The Client

World of Books Group is a circular economy, for-profit company that protects the planet and supports charities by helping people reuse books, DVDs, CDs, games and more.

The company is growing fast in the UK and internationally, selling used books to over 190 countries worldwide. It plans to be recognised as a true innovator of re-commerce solutions, while keeping the values that the business was founded on.

Its vision is to be the leading seller of used books globally, while helping people to reuse and recycle for less through innovation and technology. In 2022, World of Books (Wob) rehomed almost 16 million books and responsibly recycled 23.8k tonnes of books that would have otherwise ended up as waste.

Wob has 200,000 sq ft of warehouses in Goring-by-Sea and a state-of-the-art warehouse in Coventry, with 6.5 million items in stock. World of Books Group buys books back from customers through Ziffit and Sell Back Your Book, and buys bulk excess stock from charities through Shopiago. The company then sells these to customers through Wob and Second Sale, meaning less waste and more rehomed books.

World of Books Group wanted sensor taps in its warehouses to reduce water usage and be more hygienic, in line with its commitment to sustainability as a B Corp and carbon neutral company. SaveMoneyCutCarbon initially quoted World of Books Group for supply and installation of sensor taps at Coventry and Goring-by-Sea.

SaveMoneyCutCarbon shares the sustainability goals of the parent World of Books Group and has been delivering energy and water saving projects across the UK for the past decade, helping businesses, hospitals and schools to reduce their carbon emissions and make savings on utility bills.

World of Books Group is committed to achieving net zero and currently offsets more than is needed to achieve carbon neutrality, and is certified Operational Carbon Neutral. It balances carbon emissions released in direct operations by investing in global projects that reduce, avoid or remove carbon from the atmosphere.

World of Books Group is proud to be a B Corp, exceeding the testing standard in its first three years and this year achieving an impressive score of 102 (against a baseline 80) measuring how operations and business model impact employees, community, environment, and customers.

The installation team initially installed the sensor taps in washroom facilities at the Goring-by-Sea warehouse but quickly identified that the sensors were being accidentally triggered by hi vis jackets worn by staff.

The team tried a range of settings on the sensors taps but the triggering could not be prevented, and contact with the manufacturer confirmed that this was an unexpected function in the sensors.

Chris Brooks, Business Stream Manager – Sustainable Washrooms at SaveMoneyCutCarbon went back to the drawing board and looked at the CONTI+ Ruby tap, which had just been added to the company product portfolio with an exclusive 2-year deal.

Chris checked with suppliers to confirm that the Ruby tap did not have this issue and would work as specified in the business washroom environment. There was an additional bonus that the Ruby has a 3lpm flow rate compared to the 5.7 lpm on the Grohe.

The Ruby taps were installed at the Coventry warehouse and commissioned using the CONTI+ Service App, which provides direct wireless access to the sensor tap, making it easy to set and check parameters, activate or deactivate service and sanitary functions, and read status information and statistical operating data. Individual factory settings, such as running time and sensor range, can be easily and quickly adapted to meet specific requirements.

The commissioning process instructs the infrared sensor to scan the dimensions of the sink and calibrate sensor performance accordingly. The sensor sensitivity setting was reduced down to 2/10 for optimal performance and the taps were fully tested to confirm that there was no interference from hi vis clothing.

The installation team went back to Goring-by-Sea, to remove the installed taps and replace with the Ruby product.

The team then completed on-site training with World of Books Group staff, showing how the Service App is used for maintenance and how to access data, including water consumption. An important and integral part of the app operations is the effective management of Legionella prevention processes and compliance with regulations.

The Ruby taps in the two warehouses have been set to perform a hygiene flush every 12 hours to reduce biofilm build-up. And the data on water consumption shows which taps are being used, enabling a maintenance person to flush water only in those installations, so minimising water consumption.