Environment
Improving life at home.
Fulfilling our vision to be the world’s leading kitchen and laundry appliance 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 has been the Whirlpool way for 110 years. As our former CEO Elisha Gray II, said in his letter addressed to our shareholders in 1969, which led to the establishment of our Office of Environment in 1970:
“We cannot separate our business from the communities in which we operate, and hope to grow and prosper.”
We are taking a long-term view and making the changes we need in our operations and supply chain for our production to be more sustainable—without shortcuts or excuses.
Our path to Net Zero
As part of this journey, we made a global commitment to reach net zero emissions in our plants and operations by 2030. This commitment will cover all large manufacturing sites and distribution centers around the world, spanning all our direct (Scope 1) and power-related (Scope 2) emissions. In addition, we are continuing to progress towards our SBTi approved 20% reduction target in emissions linked to the use of our products across the globe (Scope 3 Category 11) by 2030, compared to 2016 levels. We’ll achieve these commitments through ongoing investments in energy efficiency improvements and renewables.
Not only are we providing products that have less impact on the environment, but consumers ultimately save money with more energy-efficient appliances, so it is a win-win for everyone!
SCOPE 1 & 2
In 2003, Whirlpool Corporation was the first appliance manufacturer to set an emissions reduction target, and we continue to raise the bar through additional actions and commitments, including our commitment to Net Zero emissions in our plants and operations by 2030. This commitment covers all large manufacturing sites and distribution centers around the world, spanning all direct (Scope 1) and power-related (Scope 2) emissions. Progress on this goal is made possible through investments in energy retrofits, onsite renewable energy and driven by the dedicated people and processes of our World Class Manufacturing (WCM) Environmental and Energy pillars We achieved a GHGs emissions reduction of approximately 25% in Scopes 1 & 2 from 2021 to 2022 in our operations, and we plan to achieve greater reductions in emissions by continuing our strong focus on environmental and energy management, and continued focus on WCM methodologies.
SCOPE 3
It is an even bigger challenge to advance sustainability in areas where we don’t have100% control, such as the upstream and downstream emissions included in scope 3. When consumers use our products in their homes, those emissions from water and energy are included in scope 3 category 11 and understandably represent the largest climate impact opportunity within our company. From 2005 to 2016, we achieved a 53% reduction in these emissions and continue to progress toward our SBTi-approved target of another 20% reduction by 2030 compared to 2016 levels.
Environmental Highlights
In 2022, our large global manufacturing sites achieved at least Gold Level zero waste to landfill (diverting 95% or more waste)
Obtaining zero waste to landfill Gold Level or greater at 100% of our large manufacturing sites has avoided over 20,000 tons of waste from going into landfills over the past five years.
This is the equivalent of the yearly waste generation of around 75 thousand people.
Whirlpool Corp. achieved Greenhouse Gas Emissions reduction of 45% in scopes 1 and 2 from 2016 to 2022
Helping Our Consumers Live Sustainably
To help our consumers use their appliances more sustainably, we have a dedicated website, improvinglifeathome.com, that brings the best of our brands’ content to help families improve life at home, sustainably. It’s packed with tips to make the kitchen more sustainable, fun ways to get the family involved, ideas to help make environmentally-friendly choices, and seasonal tips and inspiration.
Our ReNEWW House
The ReNEWW House (Retrofit Net-Zero Energy Water Waste) is a 1920s three-bedroom home on the campus of Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, in the United States. The home was extensively retrofitted and refurbished to be as energy and water efficient as possible. Whirlpool Corporation operates it as a live-in research lab and sustainable living showcase. During the school year, Whirlpool Corporation engineers obtaining their Master’s degrees at Purdue University reside in the house and perform research on innovative projects related to sustainability.
In 2022 Whirlpool Corp.’s ReNEWW House sponsored five research projectson topics including home energymanagement, thermal energymanagement, grey water analysisand laundry technology.
