“ESG is not a separate program within our company—sustainability and responsibility are part of our DNA as a 111-year-‘young’ company. Improving life at home and building a better future for our consumers, employees and the planet is at the core of everything we do.”
Message From Our CEO
Marc Bitzer
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Improving life at home through our environmental, social and governance (ESG) strategy is an integral part of our long-term, strategic imperatives and operating priorities. Over our 111-year history, we have continued to develop products that are good for our consumers and for the planet, to invest in resources that help care for our employees and our communities, and to hold ourselves accountable with robust policies, procedures and systems. The longevity of our company certainly gives testimony to the sustainability of our business model and to the loyalty, perseverance and spirit of winning of our colleagues around the world.
We are now operating in a very different world than we were just 10 or 20 years ago. We are experiencing a challenging macroenvironment and diminishing advantages of being a large global organization, so we are focused on the transformation of Whirlpool into a higher-margin, higher-growth business. In 2022, we added InSinkErator to our already strong brand portfolio and agreed to contribute our European major domestic appliance business into a newly formed entity with Arçelik. These strategic actions, combined with our relentless pursuit of improving life at home, have us well-positioned to deliver growing stakeholder value over time.
As we navigate the rapidly evolving and complex space of ESG frameworks, standards and regulations, we continue ongoing dialogue with our stakeholders to understand and address risks and opportunities on issues that impact our corporation the most. Aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) and our refreshed list of prioritized ESG topics, we continuously aim to improve our products, our business and our operations to benefit all of our stakeholders. Through strong governance from our Board of Directors and executive leadership team and through our hard-working, dedicated employees who embody our values-driven culture, we continue to make progress on our journey to create value through sustainability.
As a result, it is no surprise, and yet also a tremendous honor, to be ranked by Newsweek as #3 on its list of America’s Most Responsible Companies and by the Drucker Institute as #5 on its list of America’s Best Managed Companies. In addition, we increased nearly every score for our prioritized ESG rating agencies in line with our 2022 targets. As described throughout this report, I’m proud to share a few other achievements from last year.
America’s Most Responsible Companies (#3), Newsweek
Dow Jones Sustainability Index for World and North America, Industry Mover Award, S&P Global
Best-Managed Companies (#5), Wall Street Journal and Drucker Institute
Key Achievements in 2022:
- Achieved 10-year commitment to be Zero Waste to Landfill (ZWtL) across all our large manufacturing sites globally
- Accelerated progress to Net Zero emissions in our plants and operations by 2030, achieving greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions in both scopes 1 and 2
- Continued to build our capability to quantify and reduce emissions from our products in use (scope 3 category 11)
- Activated two off-site virtual power purchase agreements (VPPAs) for clean, renewable wind energy
- Engaged over 1,300 U.S.-based people leaders with Unconscious Bias and Empathy training as part of the ongoing commitment made in our 2020 Pledge for Racial Equality and Fairness
- Continued our collaboration with key organizations to advance our commitment to support diverse, thriving communities, including Habitat for Humanity, United Way, Consulado da Mulher, Boys & Girls Clubs of America and Feeding America
- Engaged Whirlpool’s top 200 global suppliers to participate in the inaugural year of a third-party sustainability survey
- Upheld strong ESG governance through oversight by our Board and Executive Leadership team, validated by external awards and improved ratings
To our 61,000 employees around the world, thank you for relentlessly working to improve life at home for our millions of loyal consumers. I also want to thank you, our stakeholders, for your continued trust in us.
Sincerely,
Marc Bitzer
Chairman of the Board and
Chief Executive Officer
