Stockholm - Swedish home appliance maker Electrolux wants "political support" to introduce incentives aimed at replacing old refrigerators and dishwashers as a means to cut greenhouse gas emissions, Chief Executive Hans Straberg said Wednesday. Speaking at a briefing with reporters in Stockholm, Straberg said company research suggested that "18 million tons in carbon dioxide emissions" could be saved in Europe if consumers replaced old appliances with newer, energy-efficient refrigerators, washing machines and dryers.
"This is not a small amount, it equals to about 6 per cent of the Kyoto Protocol" objectives for greenhouse gas reductions the European Union has signed up to, Straberg said.
About a third - or 188 million of the current 630 million appliances in European homes were over 10 years old, Straberg said, adding that the saving for consumers in Europe was worth 34 billion kronor (5.3 billion dollars).
The replacement would benefit the company's bottom-line, but was also a "win, win, win" situation, he said, citing the benefits for consumers "in lower energy bills" and long-term effects on the environment.
Straberg did not want to spell out what sort of incentives he would prefer, but said the home appliance market could perhaps introduce a system comparable to that of the automotive industry.
The company that was formed in 1919 said it has made strides in reducing water and energy use for laundry and dishwashers.
Straberg said 80 per cent of a dish washer or refrigerator's energy usage was linked to the consumer's home while production accounted for some 15 per cent.
A Bonn University study commissioned by Electrolux suggested that using a modern dishwasher used less water than ordinary hand washing under running water, Henrik Sundstrom, vice president for environmental and sustainabiliity affairs said.
Hand washing under running water could use some 103 litres of water on average while a regular dishwasher used 14 litres, he said. Lower water use meant less energy used for heating water.
"The importance of incentives is also to create a market. Then the market should be able to sustain itself," Sundstrom said.
Straberg said the group aimed to reduce energy use in plants and offices by 15 per cent as of 2009, offering savings of some 100,000 tons of carbon dioxide.
