UK
Miele Professional is calling on the Government to extend its plan to introduce longer life guarantees for domestic appliances to include commercial laundry equipment as well. The Government initiative is designed to combat ‘planned obsolescense’ and wants manufacturers to extend the lifespan of electrical products to at least seven years and ensure parts are available so equipment can be repaired rather than replaced. The aim of the move is to encourage more sustainable consumption of products.
The Government recently announced plans to ensure longer life guarantees for domestic goods including fridges, washing machines and TVs. However, the Professional division of Miele, which provides laundry equipment to various sectors including healthcare, vets and hotels, wants organisations to be aware that it isn’t just domestic machines that contribute to the production of greenhouse gases during the manufacturing process, but also machines in commercial use play a significant part as well.
As reported by the BBC, Daily Mail and The Mail on Sunday, fridges, washing machines and TVs will now be guaranteed to last longer in the ’war on planned obsolescence’, as the Government Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy sets out plans to encourage manufacturers to extend the lifespan for electrical products. The new framework, expected to ‘go further than current EU rules’ will require products to display their expected lifespan, and spare parts to be available for at least seven years to ensure machines can be fixed rather than having to be replaced.
Simon Venni, country sales manager GB&I from the Professional division of Miele said: “We welcome the Government’s position on ‘planned obsolescence’ showing a clear understanding of the need for the sustainable consumption of products. It is vital that manufacturers are producing products that are built to last, to allow us to work towards a more sustainable future. Lifetime quality and longevity is something that is at the core of all Miele products and we are glad steps are being taken to make appliances last longer and in turn, help to protect against environmental impact. Sustainability is high on our agenda at Miele and we have lowered our CO2 emissions by 57% since 2000 and been a member of the UN Global Compact, an initiative promoting sustainability in businesses since 2004.”
Venni explained that Miele commercial washing machines are tested for 30,000 cycles, which is the equivalent to eight loads a day, seven days a week for over 10 years. Different to domestic machines, commercial machines used in sectors such as care, vets, hotels, and restaurants, among others, are running multiple times a day and these sectors heavily depend on reliable laundry solutions to provide an uninterrupted service. This has become increasingly important during the Covid-19 pandemic as organisations, particularly across the care sector, are taking extra precautions to manage infection control and prevention.
