By January next year, thirteen Electrolux manufacturing sites in Europe will use only electricity from renewable sources. It further confirms the systematic work by Electrolux to reduce the environmental footprint in its factories worldwide.
As part of the global Electrolux Green Spirit program, from January 2016, the Major Appliances manufacturing sites in Sweden, Hungary, Poland, Italy and Germany will use only electricity coming from renewable sources (hydro, solar, wind and bio-mass). Overall, this will reduce CO2 emissions by 75,000 tons per year, which accounts for 70% of the total CO2 emissions of the Electrolux factories in Europe.
Moving towards green energy alternatives
There are already several good examples of how Electrolux is using renewable energy. The Electrolux Professional sites in Vallenoncello and the Major Appliances plant in Forli, Italy are partially powered by solar energy. Since 2015, the Electrolux headquarters in Sweden and in the UK use purely electricity from renewable sources.
Additionally, Vallenoncello became the first ISO 50001 Energy Management System certified plant in the Group in 2014 and now the Major Appliances plant in Rayong, Thailand has been certified too. Several plants are also in the start-up phase to implement ISO 50000.
“Other sites in Europe are also moving towards renewable electricity. It would be interesting to study how we could increase our in-house energy generation, especially through the use of photovoltaic installed on the roofs of our sites,” says Henrik Sundström, Vice President, Electrolux Sustainability Affairs.
Tapping into more opportunities
“Finding ways to save energy in operations now starts to be a challenge,” admits Gordon Smith, Sustainability Director within Electrolux Global Manufacturing. However, as one of the outcomes of the Green Spirit efforts, Electrolux has a best-practice database with about 120 ideas on how plants can become even more energy efficient. “It’s a practical checklist already launched in Latin America, Asia-Pacific and Europe,” Smith adds.
“Now, almost ten years after we started to systematically reduce energy use in production, it’s time to be bolder about renewable energy to further reduce the environmental impact,” says Tomas Dahlman, Director Global Energy Strategies. “It’s not only about technology improvements and investments; a lot can still be done when it comes to engaging our employees and implementing innovative ideas.”
Electrolux green spirit during nine years
Since 2007, the Green Spirit Program has been working towards reducing energy use in operations. The energy use per unit has decreased by more than 40% since 2005 due to energy initiatives undertaken in 57 plants worldwide.
The program is not only good for the environment; cost savings for the company amount to approx. SEK 400 million annually.
The Green Spirit work is a key component in the company’s commitment to sustainability, which is an integral part of the Electrolux business today.
Ambitious goal
By 2020, the Group energy reduction target has been set to 20%, part of the ambitious Group goal to reduce carbon emissions by 50% in 2020 – relative to 2005 production levels.
