Protecting our natural resources

Our natural resources are finite and precious, and maintaining a healthy ecosystem means balancing what we take from the planet and what we give back.

Innovative technologies can help, with designs that help reduce the water consumption of your cleaning appliances or lower your energy usage to lessen the pressure of fossil fuels.

Electrolux Professional is committed to designing water and energy efficient appliances that help preserve natural resources and protect the environment while still providing unbeatably high performance.

For example, our induction cooking system comes with a 90 percent energy efficiency level, reducing consumption by 60 percent compared to traditional electric tops, and by investing in washers in our Line 6000 collection, you can reduce water consumption by 40 percent, while automatic dosing systems mean you can also reduce running costs by 40 percent.

We also show the same dedication to sustainability in our own operations and processes by taking specific actions to minimize waste and ensuring that all of Europe’s major appliance manufacturing sites only use electricity from renewable sources.

Together as businesses, we can make a long-term commitment to protecting the environment’s natural resources by reducing water and energy consumption and this sustainable approach brings benefits for both the planet and your pocket.

Embracing the circular economy

The circular economy follows the three Rs (reduce, reuse and recycle) approach, extending lifecycles and reducing waste as much as possible. By committing to this sustainable economic model, you can significantly improve your business’s environmental impact and help create a greener future for all.

There are many simple ways to reduce unnecessary waste in your business or workplace. It can be as simple as turning off lights when not in use, carefully controlling stock, and ensuring efficient use of equipment and materials.

Waste water can be used to water plants, you can commit to reusable cutlery instead of disposable, and even removing trash can liners where possible can also make a difference. These small measures build up and can significantly reduce your business’ environmental footprint as well as lowering costs.

For people and the planet

It’s not just about looking after our planet. The UN’s SDG 3 calls for good health and well-being for all, and putting people first has always been Electrolux Professional’s top priority. We take great care to manufacture ergonomically designed, user-friendly appliances to protect your workers’ health, safety, and well-being and ensure complete peace of mind in the workplace.

Due to the hands-on nature of the hospitality industry, poorly designed products and appliances can cause serious problems for users. Because working in hospitality involves strenuous and repetitive actions like reaching and bending, pressure can be placed on particular stress points which can lead to discomfort and injury.

This can be detrimental to your worker’s health and well-being, significantly affect your business’s productivity, and eventually have an effect on your bottom line.

Our ergonomic experts focus on the interaction between people and appliances to ensure our equipment makes the required actions as comfortable and stress-free as possible. We want to ensure that your employees work in a safe and supportive environment and continue to perform to their best, increasing your business’s productivity and profits.

Our commitment

With the ever-growing need to protect the world from the worsening effects of climate change, and a shift in the way consumers are thinking about their environmental impact, it has never been more vital to develop innovative and sustainable business solutions.

The Global Sustainability Study found that more than one-third of consumers claiming they would pay more for sustainable brands and carbon neutral products, so committing to making a more positive contribution to the planet is the best business decision you can make right now.

By adopting a sustainable business approach, you will improve your brand image and reputation, lower business costs, increase productivity, and reduce your environmental impact for a cleaner, greener future.

Electrolux Professional is incredibly proud of its pledge to become a carbon neutral company by 2030, our continued commitment to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and our dedication to creating a brighter future for generations to come. Together, we can make a difference.

“It is really satisfying to see Electrolux Professional being a leader in our industry by replacing HFC gases in our products with more climate-friendly, refrigerant gases. We want to drive this change, making our customers more aware of the impact of harmful gases on our planet” says Niklas Lindsköld, Head of Sustainability at Electrolux Professional.

The professional kitchen is comprised of several different refrigerated products, which account for approximately 40 percent of the kitchen’s total energy consumption.

Therefore, the re-design of the cooling circuits in these solutions optimizes the natural gases, and as a result, an improved product performance and energy consumption in the cooling system is achieved. The new green gases have a cooling effect that is four times greater than HFCs. In addition, the insulations and foams of the new refrigerant solutions, are superior alternatives, offering greater safety and energy economics.

Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) are highly potent greenhouse gases. They are present in many commercial applications that surround us in our daily life. As these gases escape and accumulate in the atmosphere, they increasingly contribute to climate change. Switching to more climate-friendly alternatives supports Electrolux Professional’s ambition to reduce our carbon footprint.

There are many products on the market claiming to be “green” but only the presence on the official ECOLABEL logo can give you the certainty that they respect tough environmental requirements for all relevant stages of the product’s life cycle.

This means that the Authority has evaluated the product with a global approach: from raw material selection to production processes, use and dosages, disposal and recycling, are all included in the assessment. Furthermore, product properties must ensure quality and durability). The EU Ecolabel, established in 1992, is also called the “EU Flower” and is one of the world’s most known eco-labels. The Nordic Swan is the equivalent of the EU Ecolabel, but it has a strong positioning among consumers in the Nordic region. 

Being safe for garments but also for people is fundamental: cleaning effectiveness is what everyone is looking for, even if safety should not be ignored. If a detergent is delicate with textiles, it will preserve them from excessive wear and damage prolonging their life and again being ecofriendly. In any case, with safety you don’t have to think only of textiles, but also of the sensitive skin of people using detergents and wearing the textiles washed with them. Hypoallergenic products have been dermatologically tested and are products formulated to minimize the risk of sensitization. 

Always remember that you will face different kind and level of soiling, thus having a range which can help you in all your daily work life will make everything easier. When checking effectiveness, keep in mind to verify the dosages and the suggested washing temperature. The lower the dosage and temperature are, the better is for the environment and for your pocket. Consider also the existence of a compatible spotting agent range to help solving most difficult cases instead of going through a repeated washing processes or having the need to increase temperatures or dosages in standard washing programs, losing the benefits we have already discussed. 

Consider products which can enhance hygiene due to specific chemical characteristics. Did you know that extreme pH values can inactivate coronavirus? Furthermore, high temperature exposure for a certain period of time can help that process. The combination of these characteristics can be useful and it will provide you, your customers and your staff the confidence that their well-being is safeguarded at all times.

With these simple considerations you will be able to select effective detergents, protect the environment, prolonging your customers’ textiles lifespan, ensuring to use delicate products and meet the increasing high hygiene standards. 

The selection of the proper detergents will not only make your work life easier but will help you being part of the green revolution that is taking place. 

Learn more about our detergents range and start reducing the environmental impact with us.

The Impact of EU’s Single-Use Plastic Directive on the Hospitality Business
Any plastic stocks can be sold until exhausted, then producers, cafés, restaurants, and other food businesses will need to switch to other greener solutions, like re-usable crockeries, or switch to items made of bamboo & cellulose or other biodegradable materials with a lower environmental impact.

All those businesses willing to embrace such a radical “green” change will find themselves facing a huge workload at peak times, since dishwashing requires time and manpower, with their related costs.

Why Taking-Up a Dishwasher to the Hospitality Businesses
The Single-Use Plastics Directive of the European Parliament highlights the importance of having valid dishwashing equipment, which becomes fundamental for Hospitality businesses such as bars, pubs, restaurants, and hotels to manage workloads quickly and efficiently -especially at peak times- in order to cope with five fundamental aspects.

1 – Business continuity
The eradication of a huge range of plastic goods from services will force those businesses not able to convert to the new, eco-sustainable materials, to a heavier workload during peak hours, since they will find themselves in washing a higher number of traditional plates and cutlery, thus slowing down activities. A dishwasher becomes then fundamental to ensure an optimal customer service and to reduce the workload of the staff that, in turn, can focus on more productive activities.

2 – Hygiene standards
In a historical period in which hygiene standards have become more and more challenging, traditional, manual, washing of dishes and glasses is no longer enough to ensure the proper removal of bacteria. Instead, the introduction of a dishwasher grants perfectly hygienic results and bacteria elimination, especially those capable of working at a constant 84 °C or higher rinse temperature, thus coping with the most challenging hygiene requirements.

3 – Environmental impact
Unlike what most people might think, automatic dishwashing, compared to the manual one, in addition of granting higher performance allows to considerably reduce environmental impact, since modern dishwashers grant low consumptions in energy and water, as well as products such as detergent and rinse aid. Last but not least, heat emissions are kept low, thus avoiding temperature rises within the working environment.

4 – Manpower costs
In addition to the savings in terms of energy, water, detergent and rinse aid, an efficient dishwasher is able to drastically reduce all costs related to manpower, since the duties traditionally carried out by the staff can be mostly eliminated. Moreover, dishwashers providing cold rinse feature give ready to use glasses immediately after washing, thus guaranteeing efficiency and less stress during daily operations.

5 – Need for small footprint
Modern dishwashers performance is not strictly related to their size, allowing them to be extremely efficient and reliable regardless their dimensions, thus making them perfectly suitable even for the smallest businesses, where elbow room is more challenging.

Conclusion
Having valid dishwashing equipment becomes fundamental for the Hospitality industry to ensure business continuity, a proper service, and meet the increasingly high hygiene standards, thus reducing the overall operational costs and granting low consumptions in energy, water, detergent and rinse aid, reducing the costs for customers.

In addition, from a social responsibility point of view, a dishwasher allows you to keep using traditional cutlery and thus to avoid not only the waste of washing products, but also of plastics, which paves the way for a more sustainable future.

¹ SOURCE: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32019L0904&from=EN

Everything is in place for the celebration of World Environment Day across all Professional sites on June 5 – the same day established by the United Nations’ as their flagship date to encourage awareness and action for the protection of our environment. Since its inception in 1974, the event has grown to become one of the most popular global platforms for public outreach and awareness on emerging environmental issues.

“We are all dependent on healthy ecosystems for our wellbeing, and as part of our journey to reduce carbon emissions and make a more efficient and responsible use of our resource, we are giving our contribution – also through our participation in World Environment Day – to help protect our ecosystems from further damage” comments Niklas Lindsköld, Head of Sustainability and Security.

This year’s theme is “Ecosystem Restoration” – a premise that seems particularly important given the attention placed, especially this year, on environmental and sustainability actions to bounce back from COVID-19, and ‘restoring’ is precisely what the team behind this year’s Environment Day decided to focus on when planning the activities for the day.

“Despite the pandemic, it’s important to continue to maintain the tradition of the Electrolux Professional Environment Day, but we want to do it safely while also empowering everyone to take small, every day actions to preserve and restore our ecosystems” says Anna Bråhammar, Ljungby’s Environment Health and Safety Manager.

“The activities chosen for this year’s celebration also have a way of involving those of us who are on smart working, so everyone will have a way to participate and we can still create a sense of community, even in this pandemic” adds Bråhammar.

The emergence of COVID-19 has also shown the new and devastating effects of pollution on our ecosystem – think PPE litter increase and a rise in plastic trash – which is why small individual efforts can make a big difference in helping to preserve and protect our environment.

From June 1^st to June 4^th, employees across our sites will be handed an Environment bag containing an instruction letter and a snack: this biodegradable and compostable bag can be used to clean up litter in one’s own surrounding nature and to properly dispose of harmful waste. Employees on smart working can also take part in this activity by collecting the Environment bag in their local office and sharing their trash-collecting pictures on social media.

Remember the ‘bug hotels’ built last year? We’re taking it a step further this year by planting fruit trees alongside the EPS-shaped bug hotels assembled throughout our factories in 2020.

Tree planting is a simple, yet effective restoration activity as selective planting can help to ensure greater biodiversity and can revitalize the surrounding ecosystem for bees, butterflies and other insects that have lost part of their natural habitats because of humans.

“It’s extremely important to us as part of our EPS production system to help each other out and share ideas that everyone can be a part of, just like the Ljungby team did in suggesting these activities as part of their involvement in the Environment and Sustainability pillar” comments ,

“I’d like to thank the Ljungby team for their willingness to share and all the Environment and Sustainability pillar members who have embraced these activities with enthusiasm – I’m sure this kind of sharing will help us to consistently grow”.

CEO Alberto Zanata and  Plant Manager Patrizio Mazzocut planting a tree outside the plant in Vallenochello

The sustainable advantages of transforming the household laundry chore into a social experience were discussed at a recent event in Gothenburg – home to Professional’s Future Laundry Studio, which is part of a unique, long-term research project.

The Laundry Studio was inaugurated in 2016 as part of the HSB Living Lab, at Chalmers University of Technology.

This apartment block is home to around 30 residents and doubles up as working laboratory where everything from social behaviors to technical features, materials and use of energy are analyzed in order to find smart, sustainable solutions for future living. You can take a virtual tour here.

It’s been a hot-spot for hundreds of visitors to date, from government representatives to research groups. And, with the Laundry Studio situated at the building’s entrance, it’s a great brand-builder too.

Given the 10-year project is now at the half-way stage, a 24-hour event, that ran April 15-16, was a fitting opportunity for partners, including Electrolux Professional, to share insights to a wider audience – over 1,500 people tuned in to watch.

Professional colleagues took part in three webinars that delved into the energy efficiency of laundry rooms, shared economy and benefits for residents as well as the sustainability perspective for housing associations.

Sharing is caring – and way better for the planet
Washing habits have been analyzed, centering on how behaviors can affect the environment and the opportunities that exist to make these behaviors more sustainable.

Research has examined the environmental impact of shared laundries in apartment buildings and concluded they reduce emissions by around 26% compared to domestic machines installed separately in apartment.

“The larger  environmental footprint when all apartments being equipped with their own machines is a call to review laundry behavior at large,” says Peter Sundqvist, Sales Manager Apartment House Laundry, who represented Electrolux Professional in the webinars.

“And an inviting laundry space, like our studio, has a greater chance of being well frequented.”

The results and more can be founded in the paper ‘Sharing is Caring’ which was recently published in The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, written by two researchers from Chalmers who collaborate with The Research Hub.

Knowledge for future-proof laundry solutions

Indeed, the Laundry Studio forms part of the Research Hub by Electrolux Professional, which focuses on enhancing innovation and research, as well as collaborating with academia and external research centers.

“Our commitment to HSB Living Lab is an important investment we make to strengthen our innovation network, identify talent and gain knowledge to create a more sustainable future,” says Marius Stücheli, coordinator for The Research Hub in Sweden.

“These issues are becoming increasingly complex and interdisciplinary collaborations are needed, which is why we connect engineering with environmental and behavioral sciences to be able to make our future solutions even more environmentally friendly.”

Swedish speakers can capture action from the event here on YouTube.

About HSB Living Lab

A unique research project where researchers collaborate with the municipality and business community. Students and guest researchers reside and become part of the research themselves with the aim of finding smart, sustainable solutions for the housing of the future.

More than 2,000 sensors measure and provide information on such things as opened refrigerator doors, water consumption and thermal flows. These measured values become the basis for conclusions that can facilitate innovations for future housing. Visit the website here.