Environmental Approach
Fulfilling our vision to be the best global kitchen and laundry company, in constant pursuit of improving life at home, requires us to think of our house and home not just in terms of the four walls around us and the communities in which we live, but of the planet that sustains us.
This is why we have a longstanding, steadfast commitment to sustainability. That commitment to protecting our planet and our communities has never been more critical than it is today. In 2021, Whirlpool Corporation accelerated our environmental sustainability progress to address critical environmental issues such as climate change, transparent and safe materials, sustainable resource use and responsible and resilient manufacturing. We are fully committed to a long-term view and to make the changes we need in our own operations and in our supply chain to help make production more sustainable—without shortcuts or excuses. Our entire team is dedicated to building even more sustainable products and helping consumers use them more efficiently. These changes aren’t just what’s needed to tackle climate change; they are also what’s required to continue Whirlpool Corporation’s important leadership in the global home appliance industry.
As we entered into our 110th year as a company, we announced an important milestone on our sustainability journey; a global commitment to reaching Net Zero emissions in our plants and operations by 2030. This commitment will cover all of Whirlpool Corporation’s manufacturing sites and our large distribution centers around the world, spanning all our direct (Scope 1) and utility-related (Scope 2) emissions, and builds upon the 60% emissions reductions we have achieved across all scopes since 2005.
Our focus on eco-efficient products has never been more important as we continue to make significant progress in achieving our goals for emissions reduction, new green material alternatives and resource reductions through better end of life management, recycled content and closed loops in our supply chain. Our products continue to improve in their efficiency, and we are proud to say we have achieved another record year of reducing our environmental footprint. We launched a global system to more deeply understand and track the chemical composition of all our parts and components, developed new recycled content alternatives and began phasing out nonrecyclable packaging.
In 2021, our homes continued to be the hub where work, family and fellowship all take place under the same roof. To address the added strain on time and resources, we deployed a global communications campaign to help our employees and consumers adjust to the new ways of working and living. Our Global No Place for Waste campaign educated our stakeholders on how to take small actions to make a collective environmental impact at home. As part of the campaign, the Green Workspace initiative empowered our employees to make simple, yet impactful changes to reduce electrical consumption and improve the health and safety of their remote work environments. Additionally, we drove new education to reduce food waste in this time of shortage and supply constraints and provided new product features and purposeful innovations to allow people to manage their home, all while lowering their energy footprint. Finally, our consumer-facing website, ImprovingLifeAtHome.com, was redesigned to give simple, effective tips to our consumers on how they can use their appliances to be more environmentally sustainable.