AMDEA has launched a new sustainability information campaign to celebrate its new Sustainability section on its website, which explains to householders the environmental considerations that lie behind each phase in the life cycle of their fridge or washing machine.
The content aims, over time, to clarify how essential appliances fit in with the evolving circular economy, their potential contribution to the 1.5 degrees climate target and the net-zero home.
This comes after the industry organisation revealed that British homeowners are still shaky on the facts around eco-friendly appliances and wanting to help combat climate change.
Almost three quarters (74 per cent) of people believe sustainability means ensuring new products they buy are made using carbon neutral processes. Yet nearly two thirds of homeowners are indifferent to a manufacturer’s environmental credentials when making a purchase, according to AMDEA’s latest survey.
“For people to make the right choices now and for the future, they need to understand how their buying choices will affect our planet,” said Paul Hide, CEO of AMDEA (the Association of Manufacturers of Domestic Appliances).
“Throughout their operations, appliance manufacturers are striving for carbon neutrality, making great advances towards sustainability, and we think it will help householders to know more about this to make informed choices.”
Home appliances feature in the survey as hugely important in people’s lives. As many as 80 per cent could not give up their washing machine even to save the planet, rating it higher in importance than their central heating or their car.
Householders are unaware of the strides made by the industry towards sustainability. Just under half believe manufacturers have made some progress, while 20 per cent don’t know or are unaware the information is available.
The new Sustainability section on the AMDEA website puts into context the advances made using a ‘circular economy’ navigation. Here, by clicking on each phase of an appliance’s life cycle, visitors can find out more about progress towards carbon neutrality.
Over two thirds of homeowners (67 per cent) claim to be much or moderately more likely to buy an appliance made of some recycled materials and some highly publicised environmental concerns do hit home. Belief in the repurposing of plastic bottles is extremely high and 80 per cent correctly believe that plastic bottles are being used to make some new appliances.
More information on AMDEA’s sustainability initiatives can be found here.
