Water-wise

Developing products with high levels of water efficiency and keeping water sources free of effluents from production are both relevant to Electrolux and our operations.

Growing lack of freshwater has gone beyond being a sector-specific and local concern to become a business imperative for global companies.

By the year 2025, between 2.6 and 3.1 billion people could be living in either water-scarce or water-stressed conditions and the average supply of water per person may drop by a third.

The Electrolux response

• Water efficiency is central to appliance innovation. In 1995, a dishwasher consumed an average of 22 liters of water per load. Today our most efficient dishwashers consume 12 liters – a reduction of 54%. That is over 80% less water than is needed to wash the same amount of dishes by hand in an average Western household.
• Water efficiency is a growing concern for consumers purchasing washing machines in drought-ridden regions such as Australia. Electrolux frontload washing machines, for example, are equipped with the Ecovalve. It automatically adjust the amount of water according to the size of the load – thereby optimizing the use of water and reducing water consumption.
• There are increased concerns over the environmental downsides of hauling bottled water over long distances. At least 200 000 tons of CO2 are emitted every year from the production of PET bottles and transporting them across continents. In response, three new innovative products have been introduced by Electrolux on the European market. Source, Brita and 4Springs all feature functions to chill, micro-filter and carbonate tap water. Thereby avoiding the unnecessary costs to the environment created by bottled water.
• We closely monitor and strive to reduce water use and emissions to water in our product facilities and report annually on water use as a key performance indicator.