This is a list of notable cleaning companies. Cleaning is the process of removing unwanted substances, such as dirt, infectious agents, and other impurities, from an object or environment. Cleaning occurs in various commercial, industrial, environmental, and domestic contexts, which differ in scale and requirements. Examples include commercial cleaning, housekeeping, terminal cleaning (in healthcare settings) and environmental remediation (the removal of pollution or contaminants from the natural environment). Some cleaning companies perform hazardous waste cleanup.
Hazardous waste is waste that must be handled properly to avoid damaging human health or the environment. Waste can be hazardous because it is toxic, reacts violently with other chemicals, or is corrosive, among other traits. As of 2022, humanity produces 300-500 metric tons of hazardous waste annually. Some common examples are electronics, batteries, and paints. An important aspect of managing hazardous waste is safe disposal. Hazardous waste can be stored in hazardous waste landfills, burned, or recycled into something new. Managing hazardous waste is important to achieve worldwide sustainability. Hazardous waste is regulated on national scale by national governments as well as on an international scale by the United Nations (UN) and international treaties.
Industrial waste is the waste produced by industrial activity which includes any material that is rendered useless during a manufacturing process such as that of factories, mills, and mining operations. Types of industrial waste include dirt and gravel, masonry and concrete, scrap metal, oil, solvents, chemicals, scrap lumber, even vegetable matter from restaurants. Industrial waste may be solid, semi-solid or liquid in form. It may be hazardous waste or non-hazardous waste. Industrial waste may pollute the nearby soil or adjacent water bodies, and can contaminate groundwater, lakes, streams, rivers or coastal waters. Industrial waste is often mixed into municipal waste, making accurate assessments difficult. An estimate for the US goes as high as 7.6 billion tons of industrial waste produced annually, as of 2017. Most countries have enacted legislation to deal with the problem of industrial waste, but strictness and compliance regimes vary. Enforcement is always an issue.
Municipal solid waste (MSW), commonly known as trash or garbage in the United States and rubbish in Britain, is a waste type consisting of everyday items that are discarded by the public. "Garbage" can also refer specifically to food waste, as in a garbage disposal; the two are sometimes collected separately. In the European Union, the semantic definition is 'mixed municipal waste,' given waste code 20 03 01 in the European Waste Catalog. Although the waste may originate from a number of sources that has nothing to do with a municipality, the traditional role of municipalities in collecting and managing these kinds of waste have produced the particular etymology 'municipal.'
ServiceMaster Brands is an American privately held company owned by Roark Capital Group that provides residential and commercial services. Its headquarters are located in Atlanta, Georgia, after moving there in 2020 from Memphis, Tennessee.
Merry Maids is an international franchisor which sells and supports residential cleaning services franchises throughout the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. Merry Maids was founded in 1979, and was acquired by ServiceMaster in 1988. In 2007, the company had 1,400 independently owned and operated franchises worldwide and over 8,000 employees.
ServiceMaster Clean is a company that provides cleaning and disinfecting services in commercial, healthcare and religious facilities throughout the United States, Canada and ten other countries. As a franchised business, franchises provide both commercial and residential services.
RBDS Rubbish Boys Disposal Service Inc. is a Canadian franchised residential and commercial junk removal company operating in the United States, Canada, and Australia. The company's business model consists of taking junk or trash haulage, and giving it a "clean" image through branding and marketing.
Design for the environment (DfE) is a design approach to reduce the overall human health and environmental impact of a product, process or service, where impacts are considered across its life cycle. Different software tools have been developed to assist designers in finding optimized products or processes/services. DfE is also the original name of a United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) program, created in 1992, that works to prevent pollution, and the risk pollution presents to humans and the environment. The program provides information regarding safer chemical formulations for cleaning and other products. EPA renamed its program "Safer Choice" in 2015.
Waste are unwanted or unusable materials. Waste is any substance discarded after primary use, or is worthless, defective and of no use. A by-product, by contrast is a joint product of relatively minor economic value. A waste product may become a by-product, joint product or resource through an invention that raises a waste product's value above zero.
Clean Harbors, Inc. is an American provider of environmental and industrial services, including hazardous waste disposal for companies, small waste generators and federal, state, provincial and local governments.
Clean Power Finance, headquartered in San Francisco, California, is a financial services and software company for the residential solar industry.
Two Maids is an American cleaning franchise based in Birmingham, Alabama. The company was ranked #4 as a top job creator by Inc. in 2013. It is also an Inc. 5000 company, ranking both for Top 100 Alabama Companies and Top 100 Consumer Products & Services Companies.
Homejoy was an online platform which connected customers with home service providers, including house cleaners and handymen. The company was based in San Francisco. Homejoy served the United States, Canada, and United Kingdom for a total of over 31 major cities. It charged a variable rate of $25–$35 per hour .. Homejoy shut down on July 31, 2015.
CoStar Group, Inc. is a Washington, DC-based provider of information, analytics, and marketing services to the commercial property industry in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Spain. Founded in 1987 by Andrew C. Florance, the company has grown to include the online database CoStar and many online marketplaces, including Apartments.com, Homes.com, LoopNet, Lands of America, and BizBuySell.
Helpling GmbH & Co. KG is an online platform for cleaning services and household-related services with over 42 subsidiaries worldwide. The company was founded in 2014 by Benedikt Franke and Philip Huffmann. The Helpling Group is headquartered in Berlin, Germany.
Handy is an online two-sided marketplace for residential cleaning, installation, and other home services. Founded in 2012 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the now New York–based company operates services in United States, United Kingdom, and Canada. The company was acquired by ANGI Homeservices in October 2018.
Jani-King International, Inc. is an American chain of commercial cleaning service franchise. The company provides janitorial services and commercial cleaning services for public spaces such as offices, retails spaces, hotels, and stadiums.
Triumvirate Environmental, Inc. is a commercial waste management and environmental services provider company based in the United States.
Managed by Q was an office management platform company based in New York City. The company was founded in 2014 by Saman Rahmanian and Dan Teran as a management platform including vendors for cleaning and maintenance services. In 2017 the company launched their marketplace which expanded their services to include IT support, inventory management, administrative staffing, and security.
Alexandra Depledge is a British technology entrepreneur, known best for being the founder and CEO of Resi, and as the founder and former CEO of Helpling, formerly known as Hassle.com. In 2016 she was awarded an MBE for services to the sharing economy.
