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We are only at the beginning of the journey, but we have made a strong start…’
Many white goods manufacturers are taking major steps to ensure their businesses and products are sustainable. Steve Clarke, head of sustainability and quality at Beko plc (UK & Ireland), tells us how the brand is doing its bit for the planet.
The past few years have seen a seismic shift in the approach towards climate change, sustainability and reducing carbon emissions. COP 21, the Paris Climate change agreement, and The Blue
Planet have all raised awareness of the need to take radical steps to protect the planet and leave it in a state fit for future generations. Arçelik has embraced that concept and now lives by its vision:
“Respecting the World, Respected Worldwide.” All industries have come under scrutiny, with consumers looking ever more closely at a company’s sustainability credentials, but few manufacturers have come under as much focus as those who make white goods. This is understandable. Our products require raw materials
and heavy industry to manufacture, and they consume a significant amount of energy to build and use across their lifetime. The onus is on us to reduce our impact and at Arçelik/ Beko we have focused on exactly that. Koc Holdings, owners of our parent company, Arçelik, signed up to the UN2030 sustainability goals in 2006. Arçelik was an invited speaker at COP21 in 2015 and were early signatories to the Paris Climate change agreement.
“ Deliver
Having made those commitments, it is important we deliver and our work since then has been driven by the desire to be a business that minimises its impact on the world and helps consumers to live more sustainable lives. This starts with understanding where we are, and the best way to do this is by external auditing and measurement. Arçelik is accredited to ISO14001 Environmental Management systems and ISO 50001 Energy Management systems. These standards require year-on-year improvements to be implemented, and the longer we maintain our accreditation, the tougher it gets. We have been scored A- by the Carbon Disclosure project (CDP) for both our Climate Change Programme and our Water Security Programme. We are on the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices where we
are the Industry Leader in Consumer Durables, FTSE 4 Good, Corporate Knights, Eco Vadis, and Corporate Knights. In every case, we are externally audited by globally-recognised
organisations and once we have received accreditation, we have held it on an ongoing basis.
36 The Road To Net Zero
Consumers are looking ever more closely at a company’s sustainability credentials, but few manufacturers have come under as much focus as those who make white goods
Steve Clarke, head of sustainability and quality at Beko
Awarded In 2021, we were awarded the Terra Carta seal, initiated by Prince Charles, which recognised our work on sustainability. We were one of only 45 companies to receive the award in its inaugural year. We’ve achieved these accreditations and awards through the work we’ve done. That includes reducing waste and water consumption in the factories, re-using where we can (in some cases waste from one factory is a critical raw material at another factory), and ensuring when we have maximised what we can use, what we can’t is recycled responsibly or released in a way that doesn’t harm the environment. As an example, wastewater from our cooking factory is cleaned to such a level that we can release it into ponds where we keep healthy Koi carp. This innovation comes from investment. We continually invest
in new cleaner technologies including $50 million in renewable energy and energy efficiency.
Carbon neutral For the past two years, products sold in the UK have been from factories where production is carbon neutral. We now have approved science-based targets in line with a 1.5°C scenario which has a 50.4 percent reduction in Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions by 2030. This includes establishing 15MW renewable energy systems by
2030. The UK is also playing its part and we are now signed up to 100 percent renewable energy across all our sites. Being more sustainable is not just about production, it’s also
about products. With the biggest part of carbon emissions coming from the product use phase, making sure we bring energy efficient products on the market is a key focus for us.
Energy consumption In the past seven years, washing machine energy consumption has improved by over 20 per cent across Beko’s range. We already offer top rating energy efficient appliances in both washing machine and tumble dryer categories and we have targets in place to improve the energy efficiency throughout the key categories we operate in. It’s also about the materials we use for our products. Our washing machines, tumble dryers, cookers and dishwashers have all started to use recycled plastics, including plastic bottles and discarded fishing nets which have clear environmental benefits over virgin plastics. We’ve also trialled using plastics in new products that have
come from recycling plants that recycle our old products. The company has a target of 40 per cent recycled plastics in all products by 2030. All this will be done without compromising on quality or reliability. We are only at the beginning of the journey. We have made a
strong start but there is a long way to go and only a short time to deliver. We are looking at every aspect of our business, including working with our retailers and consumers to make a better world for all of us.
www.beko.co.uk/sustainability
The Road To Net Zero
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