The bid to slash refrigeration pollution worldwide has taken a huge step forward as North American safety standards are being revised to allow appliance makers to transition away from the greenhouse gas hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) to more eco-friendly hydrocarbon refrigerants from next year. The move follows years of advocacy spearheaded by Electrolux and the North American industry organization AHAM.
As one of the world’s largest markets, the phasing out of HFCs in the United States and Canada will contribute to a significant reduction in harmful refrigerant pollutants worldwide.
“Due to their high global warming potential, HFCs in appliances have been a priority for us and the industry to address. The objective at Electrolux is to phase out HFCs in all markets by 2020 but while we have already eliminated the use of HFCs in other regions where non-polluting alternatives are allowed, the process has been more challenging in North America for their own safety standard reasons. North America is our largest market and this development is a big step for Electrolux and the entire industry in the quest to reduce greenhouse gases.” says Henrik Sundström, Head of Sustainability Affairs at Electrolux.
Sustainability is a core part of the business strategy at Electrolux – with Eliminate Harmful Materials as one of the promises in the Electrolux sustainability framework For the Better. Electrolux is phasing out HFCs in all markets by 2020 and this development in North America will help Electrolux achieve the company’s overall target to cut carbon emissions by 50% by 2020.