Some Traces Are Best When Not Left Behind
For BSH, sustainability plays a decisive role at all stages of our services and our products’ lifecycle. We support climate protection, save precious resources and offer consumers sustainable solutions. Our home appliances offer a variety of ways to make everyday life simple and sustainable. By saving water, energy, and detergent, or by preventing food waste, consumers can also save money and live sustainably at home.
Reducing Our Carbon Footprint
We aim to reduce our environmental footprint in all areas of our value stream. That includes both improving the material mix of our products and reducing emissions and energy consumption. Whether it’s sourcing or manufacturing, product use or returns, refurbishment, recycling, or the reuse of our appliances – we review every aspect of our business in terms of its environmental compatibility and potential for improvement on our path to reaching new climate goals.
Since 2020, we have been developing and manufacturing in a CO₂-neutral manner at all BSH sites worldwide.
We have identified four levers to achieve this. The two biggest levers for CO₂-neutral manufacturing are the efficient use of energy and the use of green electricity. The third and most challenging lever is the substitution of processes that burn fossil fuels.
As a last resort, we offset unavoidable CO₂ emissions with carbon credits. The compensation shares for 2022 are currently being evaluated by an external partner and will be published in the near future. However, these efforts are just the beginning for BSH. In addition to our numerous energy efficiency measures, we are constantly improving the quality of CO₂-neutral manufacturing by increasing the proportion of self-generated energy and thus reducing the necessary compensation certificates.
Four levers allowed us to achieve carbon neutrality back in 2020. But this isn’t where our leverage ends. We are continuously accelerating these efforts in order to reach new ambitious targets by 2030.
We are improving the energy efficiency of our plants, systems, and buildings. By 2030, BSH aims to save 300 gigawatt hours of energy. This equals the annual the annual energy consumption of ≈ 90,000 family households.
We have made our operations carbon-neutral – but our work does not end there. We are also looking at all other indirect emissions that occur in our value chain. These so-called Scope 3 emissions result from activities such as:
And we have set ourselves ambitious targets for the year 2030:
Product Innovations
At BSH, we inspire and support consumers to live healthier and more sustainable lives.
Our home appliances help in many ways to make everyday life simple and sustainable. By saving water, energy and detergent or by preventing food waste, consumers can at the same time save money and act sustainably at home. In addition, the proportion of recycled materials in our products is increasing and the design is becoming more modular. With some appliances, you can already see and feel this today.
A great example for durability and performance is the Bosch Series 4 vacuum cleaner. It comes with a 10 years motor guarantee, washable filters for longer usage, and a long availability of spare parts. What makes the Series 4 even more sustainable is the way it has been designed and manufactured. The black variant is made from 38% recycled plastics*, the other colors are made from 30% recycled plastics*. Moreover, the packaging consists of 95% recycled paper. The packaging material inside is recyclable and compostable. (*Evaluation done according to ISO 14021)
Another great example for durability and performance is the new Bosch GL38 vacuum cleaner . It comes with a 10 years motor guarantee, washable filters for longer usage, and a long availability of spare parts. What makes the GL38 even more sustainable is the way it has been designed and manufactured. The black variant is made from 38% recycled plastics*, the other colors are made from 30% recycled plastics*. Moreover, the packaging consists of 95% recycled paper. The packaging material inside is recyclable and compostable. (*Evaluation done according to ISO 14021)
Already since the fall of 2021, there is Bosch´s first sustainable vacuum cleaner GL20S available. The Series 2 bagged appliance is made out of 64 percent recycled plastics that comes with 95 percent recycled packaging. Its Bosch Motor Technology guarantees consumers high performance made in Germany as well as a free 10 years motor guarantee. This fact not only pays off in terms of performance, but also in relation to durability.
For the development of a new product line of Bosch fridge-freezers, we have focused in particular on the use of CO₂-reduced materials and bio-based raw materials in order to contribute to climate protection.
For example, CO₂-reduced steel is used for the side panels and other sheets, which is characterized by a 70% lower CO₂ footprint compared to the steel previously used. In addition, both the main component of the insulation foam and all plastic parts of the interior are made from bio-based, CO₂-neutral materials. These measures have reduced the CO₂ footprint of the appliance by over 33% to around 200 kilograms of CO₂.*
* Partly allocated by mass balancing (according to ISO 22095). In production, CO2 reduced material is partly mixed with conventional material, but is allocated to the Bosch Green Collection fridge freezers. CO2 reduction results from the use of CO2 reduced steel and bio-based foam and plastic. The comparison refers to Bosch fridge freezer KGN39VXBT with conventional material.
Thanks to new business models such as product leasing and sharing, we can put an end to wasteful mentalities and ensure that as many appliances and as much material as possible is reused or recycled. An added bonus is that these new business models give a wider range of consumers easier access to highly efficient products and services.
Whenever possible, our customer service offers remote diagnostics, telephone consultations and self-help tips to avoid unnecessary visits and expenses. If a technician visit at home is required, we optimize our scheduling and routing to reduce carbon emissions. In all of our countries of operation, we have expertly trained employees and service partners, who advise our consumers and provide competent support, even in more rural regions. We have an initial completion rate for repairs of over 81%. This means that 81% of the time, we only visit our consumers once to solve a problem. We support our roughly 12,000 internal and external technicians with trainings beyond the repair knowledge. Flexible, digital sessions on sustainability offer trainings on how consumers can be expertly guided to extend their appliance’s lifespan with easy-to-follow tricks and tips and the right cleaning and care routine. Seven logistical centers are located near BSH production sites and store spare parts for more than 10 years following production. This refers to all functionally relevant and storable parts for appliances produced after 1 January 2023.
Sustainable Production
We’re certifiably dedicated to sustainability at BSH. Because every single one of BSH’s 39 factories is ISO 14001 certified (International Organisation for Standardization). Beyond that, we have also secured certifications in compliance with the ISO 50001 standard for energy management for all of our production sites in the EU, in Turkey and in China.
Each production facility and team have the support of a dedicated environmental protection officer and occupational health and safety expert, who report to the Environmental Protection and Health and Safety department at group headquarters. In turn, the department draws up guidelines and conducts internal audits to monitor compliance and keep everyone safe.
Even when we’re still in the design phase of a product, we make sure to avoid controversial substances and instead rely heavily on the use of environmentally friendly materials. All of the home appliances manufactured by BSH are made with blowing agents, insulating foams, and refrigerants that are halogenated gas-free. Instead, we use eco-friendly gases that have been tested in labs for years, such as hydrocarbons cyclopentane, isobutane, and propane.
Information on critical substances
according to Art. 33.1 of the REACH Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006
The aim of BSH's environmental policy has always been to eliminate especially critical substances in the supply chain as quickly as possible as a precautionary measure. Therefore we do our own research and work closely and regularly with suppliers. These are obligated under Article 33.1 of the REACH Regulation to provide information concerning substances of very high concern in their products, if those substances are listed in the candidate list and are contained in a concentration of more than 0.1% by weight in products or components.
Taking into account the SVHC as listed in the current version of the "Candidate List" and based on the currently available information collected in our supply chain; please see below the information as required in Article 33.1 of REACH.
• Lead, CAS No. 7439-92-1, may be contained in any home appliance in steel, in aluminium and copper alloys, in high melting temperature type solders as well as in printing inks for the application of enamels on glasses.
• Lead monoxide, CAS No. 1317-36-8, in electronic components e.g. control panels, sensors.
• Lead titanium zirconium oxide, CAS No. 12626-81-2, in electronic components e.g. control panels, power units.
• Lead bis (tetrafluoroborate), CAS No. 13814-96-5, in compressors.
• Lead titanium trioxide, CAS No. 12060-00-3, in compressors.
• Cadmium and its oxide, CAS No. 7440-43-9, CAS No. 1306-19-0, in switches, hinges, drives and pumps.
• Boric acid, CAS No. 10043-35-3, in motors, electronic components, energy regulators, thermostats.
• Boric acid-crude naturel, CAS No. 11113-50-1, in thermostats.
• Dodecamethylcyclohexasiloxane (D6), CAS No. 540-97-6, in silicone seals of blenders and in lid bowls of food processor Cookit.
• Bisphenol A (4,4'-isopropylidenediphenol), CAS No. 80-05-7, in motors, electronic components, energy regulators, thermostats.
• Decamethylcyclopentasiloxane (D5) CAS No. 541-02-6, Dodecamethylcyclohexasiloxane (D6) CAS No. 540-97-6, Octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane (D4) CAS No. 556-67-2, in heating elements, sealing, fan & air dampers and gas taps.
• Dicyclohexyl-phthalate (DCHP), CAS No. 84-61-7, in electronic components.
• 2-(2H-benzotriazol-2-yl)-4,6-ditertpentylphenol (UV-328), CAS No. 25973-55-1, in displays.
• 2-methyl-1-(4-methylthiophenyl)-2-morpholinopropan-1-one, CAS No. 71868-10-5, in fans and air dampers.
• Diboron trioxide, CAS No. 1303-86-2, in electronic components, thermostats.
• 1,2-dimethoxyethane (EGDME), CAS No. 110-71-4, in sensors.
• Melamine, CAS No. 108-78-1, in pipe sockets, filter frames.
• 2,2',6,6'-tetrabromo-4,4'-isopropylidenediphenol, CAS No. 79-94-7, in end cap foliations.
• 4,4'-sulphonyldiphenol, CAS No. 80-09-1, in labels.
When appliances are used as intended and properly disposed of, their inherent substances do not pose a risk to health or the environment.
(Information for consumers under REACH Regulation (EC) No. 1907/2006; Munich, Dec. 2023; link to candidate list: https://echa.europa.eu/candidate-list-table )
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