Like our purposeful innovation, we focus on sustainability initiatives that matter.
Sustainability
At Whirlpool Corporation, we are passionate about improving our consumers’ quality of life while minimizing our environmental impact. We develop sustainable innovations that benefit our consumers and our world at the same time.
We have been focused on sustainability since 1969, long before it became the norm, and we continue to integrate it into our everyday work. Our global sustainability team collaborates on projects and goals that deliver value to our stakeholders and the environment. In addition, our team drives continuous improvement throughout our operations, products and services. We’ve reduced our water and energy use, cut emissions and waste at our manufacturing facilities, and designed resource-efficient products — which we believe are the right things to do.
Our Operations & Facilities
We completed construction of a wind farm near our Findlay, Ohio, plant in January. The farm is providing more than 10 percent of the facility’s electricity needs. We also broke ground on wind farms near our Ottawa and Marion, Ohio, plants. Ottawa’s one turbine is expected to offset the plant’s electricity consumption by approximately 35 percent, while the three turbines in Marion are expected to provide nearly 20 percent of the facility’s electricity needs. Both projects are scheduled for completion in 2017.
The completion of these two additional projects has the potential to make Whirlpool Corporation one of the largest FORTUNE 500 consumers of on-site wind energy in the United States. Collectively, we will be generating enough clean energy to power more than 2,400 average American homes annually.
We implemented multiple energy-efficient activities to save electricity, water and heat across several facilities throughout the world. At our Pune, India, plant we completed a one megawatt solar array installation which offsets our electricity needs by more than 15 percent. Our Faridabad, India, plant increased its existing solar array from 100 to 250 kilowatts. In addition, high speed diesel was replaced with piped natural gas in the plant’s paint shop to improve air quality. In recognition of overall energy conservation initiatives at our plants, we were awarded first place in the refrigeration category for the 2016 National Energy Conservation Award, given by India’s Bureau of Energy Efficiency.
Our Cassinetta di Biandronno plant in Italy revamped its lighting system, resulting in savings of 560 megawatt hours in 2016. Our Siena and Naples plants in Italy achieved best-in-class certifications from the International Organization for Standardization for their environmental and energy management systems. Thanks to new LED lighting systems, and improved assembly line compressed air production systems, the Polish Wroclaw factory received white certificates from the government recognizing reduced energy consumption. At our refrigerator manufacturing plant in Isithebe, South Africa, we switched to cyclopentane, a blowing agent with zero ozone depletion potential.
$600K
Educational Scholarships
Total of community education scholarships over 20 years.
Whirlpool Corporation will award one $5,000 Megawatt STEM Scholarship per wind turbine each year for the next 20 years to a graduating senior from Findlay, Marion and Ottawa area high schools as a way to inspire education in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
In North America, we require contracted carriers to be SmartWay® certified which helps them measure, benchmark and assess their freight transportation activities. We were honored for the second consecutive year with a SmartWay® Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as an industry leader in supply chain environmental performance and efficiency.
RENEWW House
The ReNEWW House (Retrofit Net-Zero Energy Water Waste) is a 1920s three-bedroom home on the campus of Purdue University which was extensively retrofitted and refurbished to be as energy and water efficient as possible. We use the house as a live-in research lab and sustainable living showcase. As part of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development’s Sustainable Lifestyles program, we collaborated at the ReNEWW House with other multinational companies on various innovation and sustainable lifestyle research projects.
During the summer of 2016, employees from two other leading consumer product companies lived in the house and investigated a range of lifestyle activities around the use of water and energy. This collaborative approach to innovation and sustainability allowed our three global corporations to look beyond efficiency and explore the transformation potential of infrastructure, technology, business models and individual behaviors. When completed, the results should enable consumers to live, work and play in a way that significantly reduces environmental impacts while at the same time improves comfort and quality of life for everyone.
Our Products
In addition to lowering the environmental impact of our operating footprint, we are continuing to optimize and innovate to reduce appliance energy and water consumption, helping our consumers reduce their environmental footprints without compromising performance. In recognition of our efforts, we have received 38 ENERGY STAR® Awards since 1998 for continued commitment to energy- and water-efficient products, more than any other appliance manufacturer in the United States and Canada.
Whirlpool brand expanded its Xpert System top load portfolio with an 18 kg washer that reduces water consumption up to 60 percent, earning it the CONAGUA Ecological Certification, granted to products in Mexico that save water.
