The Electrolux Group has decided to adopt the Life Cycle Thinking approach. It supports the identification of new ways to develop, manufacture and use products and services in a direction of greater sustainability and circularity. It holistically considers environmental impacts during all phases of the life cycle with the aim of defining useful actions to reduce the impacts. These are measured rigorously with a scientific approach by means of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). Through this, it is possible to deduce the so-called ‘hot spots’, i.e. the areas where action is most needed. The use of a solid and structured methodology is essential for an effective implementation of the LCT approach, as Monica Celotto (Head of Sustainable Solutions – Electrolux Group) emphasizes. She details how the Group is pursuing this initiative.
In the logic of Life Cycle Thinking, is the product design phase strategic?
Design is crucial, integrating “Design for Recycled”, “Design for Durability and Repair” and “Design for Recyclability” approaches. In fact, this is the phase in which one can most effectively act and influence the impacts the product will have throughout its life cycle. Key product sustainability goals are integrated into the development and design processes and roadmaps. And they range from energy efficiency and resource use (e.g. water consumption), to making our products more circular, to eliminating all substances that may be hazardous to the environment and consumers.
Does Life Cycle Thinking involve the entire supply chain?
Yes. Because this approach also considers what happens upstream of the production processes in our factories and aims to reduce the environmental impacts, it certainly involves the Group’s entire supply chain. Electrolux sees its suppliers as an extension of its industrial operations. They are expected to support the Group’s sustainability agenda (working to improve their performance and that of their products in terms of impact on the environment and people) and to provide evidence of this with relevant data and documentation.
Is the choice of material suppliers (including secondary raw materials) a key element?
Given the centrality of materials in our sustainability goals, and also considering the global challenges involved in sourcing resources, supplier selection and building a strong global supply base are key aspects. On this, our Procurement is working assiduously together with Quality and R&D.
Regarding in particular the use of recycled plastics (on which the Electrolux Group has more than ten years’ experience), the choice of the most suitable sources is essential from the point of view of both technical and qualitative performance and chemical purity. Over the years, we have witnessed a clear evolution in the market for recycled materials. While initially the range of sources suitable for our applications was rather narrow and we had to limit ourselves to very limited and specific supply streams, today, thanks to improvements in collection systems and separation and recycling technologies, we have been able to broaden the range of materials.
Besides, we have also worked to fine-tune material formulations to achieve the desired performance. In addition, another key aspect relates to process control, whereby we have defined specific protocols to ensure that the desired quality levels are maintained throughout production. And the production processes themselves and their parameters have also been optimised to work with these materials.
