BETTER Company
Be climate neutral and drive clean
and resource-efficient operations
We are reducing our own footprint by running efficient operations all around the world.
Our promise
Electrolux will continue to reduce its environmental footprint by shifting to renewables, and optimizing the use of energy and other resources throughout its operations. We aim to have climate neutral operations by 2030.
Read more about our progress on this Promise
Roadmap 2020 to 2030
- Reduce our CO2 footprint by 85% by 2025 (2015 baseline) and achieve climate neutral operations by 2030.
- Improve energy efficiency at our manufacturing sites and warehouses by an additional 12.5% by 2025 (2020 baseline).
- Continue to improve water efficiency at our manufacturing sites by 25% by 2025 (2020 baseline) in potential water risk areas, until the site has reached optimal levels of efficiency.
- Increase the proportion of renewable energy for our operations to 65% by 2025.
- Certify all plants to the Zero Landfill program by 2025.
The case for action
This promise applies to everything we do. We aim to run resource-efficient operations as an integral part of our work by applying industry-leading practices. This reflects our values and what we stand for as a company – being part of the solution is important for both our employees and consumers.
Our approach
Operational resource management – including energy, water, waste and emissions – is coordinated globally with a common process and strategy wherever in the world we operate.
Resource efficiency management
The Electrolux Green Spirit program is our internal resource efficiency program and rating system that includes criteria related to climate, energy and water performance, management, engagement and implemented actions that are reviewed annually. The program is continuously improved to reduce our environmental impact and operational costs. It drives further improvements and promotes the sharing and implementation of best practice among our manufacturing sites.
In addition, our renewable energy target is tracked on an annual basis and reviewed on a Group level. We are raising our level of ambition with renewable energy sources, such as hydro, solar, wind, biomass and biofuel. We also learn from existing on-site renewable installations and explore new projects around the world.
Action plans include energy management, technological investments, employee awareness raising and behavioral change. Every facility reports energy and water consumption data on a monthly basis, and this data is aggregated on a regional and global level against monthly performance indicators. We have both relative and absolute targets for energy consumption.
Our Zero Landfill program has the objective to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill or incinerated without energy recovery. To achieve this, we work to reduce the waste we generate, and identify opportunities for reusing waste materials.
All manufacturing units with over 50 employees must be certified to the ISO 14001 environmental management system. In addition, we are working to implement the ISO 50001 energy management system at all our manufacturing sites.
Challenges
- Following over a decade of prioritized investments with good payback periods, it is becoming increasingly challenging to realize continuous improvements in energy and water efficiency with acceptable payback periods.
- The coronavirus pandemic is a huge challenge as there is no way of predicting how it will affect our operations.
- Phasing out fossil fuels can be a challenge in high temperature processes due to the lack of technical and economically viable alternatives.
The progress on our promise
How we measure progress
- CO2 emissions reduction in our operations toward climate neutrality.
- Energy efficiency (energy used per unit produced).
- Water efficiency (water used per unit produced).
- Proportion of energy generated by renewable sources.
- Number of factories certified to the Zero Landfill program.
Electrolux is implementing a SEK 8bn re-engineering program, which involves modernizing, automating and optimizing its operations at several key facilities. This program is expected to realize annual cost savings of SEK 3.5bn by 2024, and at the same time it will reduce our total environmental footprint by reducing the energy, climate, water and waste impacts in our manufacturing.
Resource efficiency
In 2020, we continued to improve our energy efficiency per product by 1.4% compared with the previous year despite the coronavirus pandemic. This was achieved through a continued focus on energy management, technological investments in new equipment, employee awareness and behavioral change, and by implementing best practice throughout our operations. We are also implementing technology roadmaps, which will help us to become more action- oriented and move faster toward lean operations.
Operational resource efficiency
We made good progress in our manufacturing footprint, reducing our emissions by 70% since 2015. We have reduced the energy consumed at our manufacturing sites per product by around 45% compared with 2005, which equates to an annual financial saving of over SEK 700m. Over this period, the Group's revenue has increased, which illustrates that Electrolux has decoupled revenue growth from CO2 emissions.
Driving resource efficiency through the Green Spirit program
Our internal Green Sprit program, including our rating and certification system, continues to be crucial in driving resource efficiency. In 2020, 75% of our facilities achieved top ratings - either Gold or Platinum.
The implementation of Green Spirit 2.0 was delayed in 2020 due to the pandemic. But during the year, we continued to conduct Green Spirit 2.0 test audits at selected Electrolux factories. The updated program will draw on best practices and the latest requirements for renewable energy to support our journey toward climate neutral operations. It will also involve more comprehensive criteria and new themes, such as digitalization, process excellence and electrification.
Energy management systems
We are working to implement the ISO 50001 energy management system at all our manufacturing sites by 2021 (with the exception of recently acquired/launched plants). At the end of 2020, 60% of our factories were certified.
Renewable energy
In 2020, we increased our capacity of renewable energy through solar photovoltaic systems. By the end of 2020, Electrolux ha its own solar photovoltaic systems at 11 sites in Italy, Thailand, Australia, Mexico, China, South Africa and Sweden.
During the year, 33 of our manufacturing sites and several offices in Europe, North America and Latin America procured 100% of their electricity from renewable energy sources. By the end of 2020, 53% of our total energy purchased was from renewable sources. The shift to renewable energy, together with energy efficiency, has contributed toward an absolute reduction of our CO2 emissions by more than 70% since 2015.
Climate
Electrolux has been recognized for its sustainability leadership with a prestigious 'double A' score by the global non-profit CDP. Electrolux is one of a few companies to receive top marks both for its efforts to tackle climate change and acting to protect water security. For five years, Electrolux has been on the CDP Climate A list, whilst our place on the Water A list was a first in 2020.
In 2020, Electrolux launched the 'For the Better 2030' sustainability framework, including the objective to make our business circular and climate neutral by 2030. This new target complements our science-based target to reduce our scope 1 and 2 emissions by 80% between 2015 and 2025. Read more about our Climate Targets.
Water
In 2020, we improved our overall water efficiency by more than 40% compared with 2015. We made particularly good progress on water efficiency with factories in water scarce regions.
Our water targets are based on the WWF Water Risk Filter, which helps us to identify which of our factories are located in water scarce areas. Decisions around our water targets are based on the tool, and our factories are divided into two groups – Water Risk and Water Management factories. The Green Spirt program involves sharing water management best practice, monthly reporting on water performance indicators as well as conducting water mapping.
Many of our plants recycle process water and some are already closed loop in terms of reusing process water. We are currently investigating opportunities in several other facilities. We also use harvested rainwater in manufacturing processes, such as in Thailand, Brazil and Australia.
Zero Landfill program
The global Electrolux Zero Waste to Landfill program has been further developed and expanded to all our factories around the world. The aim of the program is to reduce our environmental footprint, find opportunities for material reuse and recycling, and at the same time decrease the amount of waste sent to landfill and/or incinerated without energy recovery.
The global program has been implemented at all Electrolux manufacturing sites and all identified standard indicators have been measured quarterly and followed up by management. The common waste database now includes data from all our factories in a structured approach that follows the 2008 CEE Directive. During 2020, our plants at Porcia in Italy and Cairo in Egypt achieved the Zero Waste to Landfill certification issued by a third party. Our first plants to be certified were Sao Carlos in Brazil and Solaro in Italy.
During the year, we have globally reduced our amount of disposed waste by 22%. Our target going forward is to ensure that all our factories continue to make progress in waste reduction.
Total direct1) and indirect CO2 gas emissions by weight. (metric tons)
1) Includes contributions from energy use and greenhouse gas fugitive emissions
Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions1) intensity
1) Includes contributions from energy use and greenhouse gas emssions
Next steps
| Roadmap 2020 to 2030 | Next steps | Status |
|---|---|---|
Reduce our CO2 footprint by 85% by 2025 (2015 baseline) and achieve climate neutral operations by 2030. | Continue the inventory of our fossil fuel footprint in our operations. Develop a global roadmap based on fossil free equipment and processes. | dot2 |
Improve energy efficiency at our manufacturing sites and warehouses by an additional 12.5% by 2025 (2020 baseline). | Implement our updated energy management certification scheme, Green Spirit 2.0. | dot2 |
Continue to improve water efficiency at our manufacturing sites by 25% by 2025 (2020 baseline) in potential water risk areas, until the site has reached optimal levels of efficiency. | Update the WWF water risk assessment for our manufacturing footprint. | dot2 |
Increase the proportion of renewable energy for our operations to 65% by 2025. | Continue to source electricity from certified renewable sources. Start piloting bio fuels and electrification of processes. | dot2ded |
Certify all plants to the Zero Landfill program by 2025. | Continue the certification process. | dot2 |
On track
Additional effort is required
Off track
Work has not yet begun
Electrolux
Electrolux is a leading global appliance company that has shaped living for the better for more than 100 years. We reinvent taste, care and wellbeing experiences for millions of people around the world, always striving to be at the forefront of sustainability in society through our solutions and operations. Under our brands, including Electrolux, AEG and Frigidaire, we sell approximately 60 million household products in approximately 120 markets every year. In 2019 Electrolux had sales of SEK 119 billion and employed 49,000 people around the world.
S:t Göransgatan 143
SE-105 45 Stockholm, Sweden