Arçelik, the company that owns Turkey-based household appliance brand Beko, has put environmental sustainability at the heart of its corporate philosophy.
“The climate crisis is of the [same] size of what we have lived through Covid-19,” said Hakan Bulgurlu, CEO of Arçelik.
Bulgurlu was not exaggerating the gravity of the global climate problem. Research conducted by a Swiss-based institute is predicting that — if the current trend of temperature increases continue — seasonal shifts and natural disasters accompanying climate change could cause the global economy to lose 10% of its total economic value by 2050.
“However, as Covid-19 has shown, if we come together as humanity and we use science as our guide, we can beat this climate crisis as well,” Bulgurlu said.
In line with Arçelik’s commitment to do their part in halting the world’s growing climate crisis, Beko announced their newest line of sustainable products on Thursday, June 24, in an online launch attended by participants from all around the world.
Ranging from washers and dryers to refrigerators and espresso machines, the new products adhere to Arçelik three pillars of sustainable innovation: the use of recycled materials, the use of biocomposites, and the use of fewer chemicals in their products.
“For us, one of the most important things is being mindful of that connection between the planet and humans by positively impacting human behavior. The best way for us to do that is actually to provide innovative products that support sustainable living,” explained Zeynep Yalim Uzun, Arçelik chief marketing officer during the launch.
The first product is the EcoTub washing machine and washer dryer. The tubs of these washing machines and washer dryers are composed of recycled 0.5 liter plastic PET bottles and recycled PET flakes, with some appliance models using an estimated 60 bottles per tub. These tubs are made of recycled materials and are also produced using a manufacturing method that significantly lowers carbon dioxide emissions.
In fact, since the project began in 2017, 58 million 0.5 liter plastic bottles have been recycled and the company was able to reduce CO2 emissions by 2,200 tons.
The next product is the GreenDry Tumble Dryer. This particular model uses recycled plastic in 15 percent of its plastic parts on average, including in the machine’s water tank housing and back cover. In the last two years, this dryer enabled Beko to recycle 2,420 tons of plastic.
From the laundry room, Beko moved to the kitchen. The Ecofiber oven also uses recycled plastics and with this appliance, the company aims at lessening the plastics in the Earth’s seas.
The company ensured that the appliance’s plastic parts were partly composed of recycled fish net waste and industrial thread waste. For instance, the built-in oven’s inner display cover is made up of 50 percent industrial thread waste.
The company, however, did not stop at recycling plastics. The BioCycle refrigerator has parts featuring bio-based plastics, which are defined by the European Union as plastics that are fully or partially made from biological resources.
To list a few, the refrigerator’s fan cover is made of 100 percent bio-based plastic such as cornstarch or sugarcane, the door seal is made of a bio-based plastic that is partially derived from soy-bean oil, and the egg trays are fittingly composed of egg shell waste and bio-plastic.
All the bio-based parts were subjected to the same quality tests as those made from traditional, petroleum-based plastics and were proven to have the same lifetime cycle and durability.
Similarly, the BioCoffee espresso machine was developed with a biocomposite material or a combination of two or more materials where at least one is bio-based. In this case, the bio-based material in this biocomposite is coffee as five cups of coffee grounds actually constitute each machine.
Lastly, the AutoDose dishwasher focuses on the efficiency aspect of sustainability. It uses intelligent technology to dispense the correct amount of detergent according to program selection and soil amount.
The result is that the machine’s detergent only needs to be refilled once a month and up to 28 percent less detergent is consumed in each wash.
“By doing right, you will win. By doing wrong, you will lose. This is the principle we adhere to in Arçelik and we are doing everything to ride this Green Wave,” Bulgurlu said.
These products will first be available in European markets and will be launched gradually in other parts of the globe.
