Vacuum cleaner uses ocean plastic
When Swedish home appliance-maker Electrolux launched its Green Range of vacuum cleaners last year, they also raised the predicament of a shortage of recyclable plastic on land while massive “plastic islands” drift in the world’s oceans.
Green Range products are 70% recycled plastic. The production process, per unit, saves 1.5 litres of oil, 65 litres of water, and 90% of the usual energy consumption compared with the process using new plastic.
“We have the technology to produce home appliances from recycled plastic, but the amount of recyclable plastic from landfills is too small to expand into other product categories,” says Adam Hall, product manager at Electrolux (Japan).
This is a serious problem for the company, whose ambition is to produce many more home appliances made from recycled plastic in future.
The solution is floating in the sea. Vast plastic islands, extending hundreds of thousands of square kilometres and constantly increasing in size, are drifting on the world’s five oceans. These swimming garbage dumps comprise plastic washed into the sea after careless disposal.
The Electrolux Group’s VAC from the Sea campaign, also launched last year, aims to fish this plastic waste out of the oceans to be recycled into home appliances. With the help of nonprofit organisations and volunteers, plastic has been collected from the sea and used to create prototype vacuum cleaners, one type for each ocean.
These five models are currently touring the world to educate consumers about the recycling of plastic and the preservation of oceans and marine life. In addition, a dedicated VAC from the Sea blog and Facebook page are promoting this long-term sustainability project online.
Electrolux (Japan), in this market for over 10 years, has been introducing the Green Range and VAC from the Sea through an initiative that goes hand-in-hand with educating Japanese consumers about sustainability issues.
“We want to educate consumers about proper recycling of plastic. If not disposed of properly, plastics will not be available for recycling and end up polluting our oceans,” states Hall.
In April 2011 Electrolux (Japan) hosted a workshop with over 20 high school and university students in attendance, and introduced the Green Range and the VAC from the Sea campaign. The company received positive feedback from the participants and organisers, who invited Electrolux (Japan) to collaborate on a Japanese model of VAC from the Sea. However, that project is on hold due to the 3/11 disasters.
In the minds of Japanese manufacturers, Hall explains, “eco” stands for “economical” and relates to low power consumption when using the product, resulting in energy-bill savings. For Electrolux (Japan), however, “eco” means “ecological”, which addresses the fundamental issue of low environmental impact of their home appliances.
Environment- friendly products usually retail at a higher price than their conventional counterparts due to higher production costs. Not so for Electrolux (Japan). Green Range products sell for the same prices as equivalent products from their main range. Ergorapido Plus and Ergorapido Plus GREEN, for example, both sell for ¥29,800.
“We do not want to penalise those customers who opt for environment-friendly products,” argues Hall.
The strategy seems to be paying off. While Electrolux (Japan)’s Ergorapido range of cordless “instant” vacuum cleaners is the company’s best-selling product in Japan, products in the Ergorapido Green Range rank within the top five. Considering the higher production costs and no premium on retail prices, what is in it for the maker?
“When we educate consumers to recycle plastic properly, they become environmental actors, and suppliers of much needed raw material for growing the categories of products made from recycled plastic. The ultimate big winner, however, will be the environment,” concludes Hall.