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While valuing their home appliances and wanting to do the right thing to combat climate change, British homeowners are still shaky on the facts and how the two connect, a new survey from the Association of Manufacturers of Domestic Appliances (AMDEA) reveals


lmost three quarters (74%)


of people believe sustainability means ensuring new products they buy are made using carbon


Helping to connect appliances and net zero homes A


neutral processes. Yet nearly two thirds (61%) of homeowners are indifferent to a manufacturer’s environmental credentials when making a purchase, according to a survey carried out for AMDEA. The association has launches a new


‘sustainability’ section on its website to explain 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 fi t in with the evolving circular economy, their potential contribution to the 1.5oC climate target and the net-zero home. Paul Hide, AMDEA’s chief executive, said:


“For people to make the right choices now and for the future, they need to understand how their buying choices will aff ect our planet. 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% could not give up their washing machine even to save the planet, rating it higher in importance than their central heating (79%) or their car (61.5%). Householders are unaware of the strides


made by the industry towards sustainability. Just under half (48%) believe manufacturers have made some progress, 31% do not think they have made much or any at all and the remaining 20% don’t know or are unaware the information is available.


8 | www.ierdaily.co.uk 80% correctly believe that


plastic bottles are being used to make some new appliances


The new sustainability section of 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 fi nd out more about progress towards carbon neutrality. These phases include: Production – eco-design, materials used and manufacturing processes; Eco-performance – use in homes including


energy and water consumption; and Recycling and recovery or repair and re-use. Over two thirds of homeowners (67%) claim


to be much or moderately more likely to buy an appliance made of some recycled materials. However, even though nearly 40% do consider a manufacturer’s position on the environment before making a purchase, knowledge of the substantial reduction in critical resources used during manufacture was very low. Nine out of 10 signifi cantly underestimated water reduction, which has come down by 61% over the past decade, in large part due to the reprocessing of


water used in production. More surprisingly, knowledge that the


improved energy effi ciency of the average fridge has nearly halved consumption over the past decade was underestimated by 3 out of 4 respondents, even though this impacts on their energy bills. Mr Hide continued: “To put this eco-saving in


context, practically all of our 28 million homes are running one, or more, fridge or fridge-freezer. “Yet some highly publicised environmental


concerns do hit home. Belief in the repurposing of plastic bottles is extremely high and 80% correctly believe that plastic bottles are being used to make some new appliances. “Knowledge of other alternatives with which manufacturers are trying to reduce reliance on new oil-based plastics was, on the other hand, much lower. Less than half (45.3%) were familiar with using plastics derived from corn starch or sugar cane and under a third believed that one manufacturer was repurposing fi shing nets.” Most respondents (51%) wrongly thought local councils fund the recycling of appliances when disposed of and almost 70% were unaware it is the industry itself which pays for recycling through the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) scheme.


November 2021


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