FEATURE
FROM PLASTIC ISLANDS TO FANTASTIC
VACUUM CLEANERS Tomorrow’s Flooring Sub-Editor, Stewart Darkin, looks at what Electrolux is doing to clean the oceans whilst still cleaning your floors.
It is a sad fact that the world’s oceans are home to vast, growing islands
of floating rubbish, much of which is non-biodegradable plastic. Now Electrolux, one of the world’s leading home appliance manufacturers, is attempting to turn the tide by collecting plastic from various oceans and seas around the globe in order to recycle it into a limited number of vacuum cleaners.
Electrolux hopes the ‘Vac from the Sea’ initiative will highlight the issue of plastic pollution whilst also helping
to emphasise the scarcity of recycled plastics for making sustainable home appliances.
Cecilia Nord, Electrolux Vice President for Floor Care Environmental and Sustainability Affairs, said: “There are plastic islands, some several times the size of the [US state] Texas, floating in our oceans. Yet on land, we struggle to get hold of enough recycled plastics to meet the demand for sustainable vacuum cleaners. What the world needs now is a better plastic karma.”
Jonas Magnusson, Product Marketing Manager at Electrolux, agrees: “More recycling directly translates
into more sustainable appliances and homes. Our engineers have managed to get our green range vacuum cleaners up to 70% recycled plastic but our ultimate vision is of course 100%, and for all ranges.”
Electrolux intends to produce the vacuum cleaners from plastic debris collected from the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic oceans, as well as the Mediterranean, Baltic and North seas. The techniques for harvesting the plastic will vary – from diving after it in some locations to scooping it up from the waves in others. At all sites, Cecilia Nord said Electrolux will work with volunteers and experts that live close to or work with this issue.
Cecilia does not think the problem should be underestimated and feels that Electrolux has a duty to act. “This issue is much too important to leave to politicians. Companies, consumers and politicians are equally accountable for the situation. Since our company delivers appliances to millions of homes, we have an opportunity to raise awareness and affect consumer decisions,” she said.
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The first stage of the Vac from the Sea initiative is already underway and debris has been collected from the North Sea off the west coast of Sweden, outside of Bohuslän. Around 20,000 tonnes of garbage is dumped into the North Sea each year and Sweden’s Bohuslän archipelago acts as a filter for the water masses on their way north. Most of the debris sinks to the sea bed but around 5,000m3 washes up on the beaches of Bohuslän every single year. The plastic recovered as part of Vac from the Sea is already on its way to the Electrolux design studio.
You can follow the progress of this and Electrolux’s other ‘plastic karma’ activities on the Vac from the Sea Facebook page or the Vac from the Sea blog, where you can also find out how to get involved.
www.tomorrowsflooring.com
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