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Materials
Even before a Gorenje product sees the light of day, it is endowed with a very important feature: it corresponds to all legal and environmental requirements. Hence, product planning phase is of great importance as this is when up to 80 percent of the product's total impact on the environment is anticipated. Our products are made of excellent, ecologically sound and degradable materials, with as little different types of plastics as possible, and with a maximum viable number of standard elements. The purpose of selecting the materials in this way is to enable simple disassembly and recycling once the products useful life has expired.
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Needless to say, composition by materials varies according to the type of appliance, as well as with appliance model within one particular type.
metal |
38 % |
| plastic parts |
31 % |
| glass |
7 % |
| electric and electronic components |
23,5% |
| refrigerant and foaming agent |
0,5 % |
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Production
New concepts come to life in Gorenje only if they can be implemented in an environment-friendly manner. Hence, products are not only made from environmentally sound and recyclable materials, but also manufactured by environment-friendly technological procedures. The approach of introducing clean, environment-friendly technologies has grown together with Gorenje since the company's beginnings, which through its development, completed numerous environment-friendly technological improvements in its production programs.
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In the segment of fridge & freezers, Gorenje was the first in Europe to reduce and then completely abandon in 1993 the use of ecologically detrimental refrigerants and propellants; in 2000, environment-friendly powder coating was introduced, and in the last ten years, water consumption per finished product was reduced by 470 liters.
With regard to cooking appliances, environment-friendly powder lacquer coating was introduced in 1998; this was followed two years later by the introduction of powder enamel coating; introduction of modern technological procedures reduced water consumption per appliance produced by 366 liters.
In the field of washing machines and dryers, environment-friendly powder lacquer coating was introduced in 1999, and introduction of modern technological procedures led to water consumption reduction of 175 liters per appliance produced.
Investment into improvement of technological procedures and equipment in the last decade resulted in a 42 percent decrease of hazardous waste generated per product, 54 percent decrease in waste disposed per product, 76 percent decrease in total treatment plant load, 65 percent decrease in water consumption per product, and 39 percent decrease in natural gas consumption per appliance produced.
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Products
In addition to design and functionality, meeting the criteria of environment-friendly design which includes the entire life cycle of a product starting from development, through manufacturing and use, to handling after the expiry of useful life, is of utmost importance. Furthermore, energy efficiency is defined as one of the key strategic goals in development of technical solutions both in products and production processes.
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Consistently with various lifestyles, various Gorenje appliances are designed to address different preferences. Nevertheless, they all share a common feature: they are equipped solely with almost entirely recyclable components that are not harmful to health of detrimental to the environment; they use less power, water, and detergent; they are classified among the most energy-efficient household appliances in the market; they meet and exceed the criteria of highest energy classes as defined by the European standards; the level of noise emitted by operating appliances is at the minimum level; entire technological development and improvements are consistent with the goals of environment protection, as well as with general interests of the society.
Introduction of thicker insulation and energy-efficient components led to a reduction of power consumption in fridge-freezers by a half. Noise level was reduced by 19 percent in the last twenty years (from 44 dBA to 36 dBA) in refrigerators and by 14 percent (from 45 dBA to 39 dBA) in freezers. Gorenje refrigerators and freezers are made of materials that are over 95 percent recyclable. Most of Gorenje rank in the A, A+, or even A++ energy class.
Virtually all Gorenje cooking appliances are in the A energy class. The new generation of appliances that launched in 2000 was estimated to allow 25 percent energy savings compared to the previous generation. The new generation also includes numerous features in ovens that enable setting the operation in such way that additional power is saved. For example, the air circulation function in ovens fitted with a fan saves additional 10 to 15 percent of power. Gorenje cooking appliances are made of materials with recycling rate above 95 percent.
Introduction of environment-friendly and energy-efficient components in washing machines and dryers reduced power consumption by a half and consumption of water by over 100 liters in the last fifteen years. Top-class washing machines are classified as A+AA, while the best condenser dryers have reached the B energy class. New generations of washing machines and dryers also offer numerous functions and settings that allow additional savings. In the last twenty years, noise level was reduced by 19 percent (from 59 dBA to 48dBA) in washing machines, and 12 percent (from 85 dBA to 66 dBA) in dryers. Gorenje washing machines and dryers are made of materials that are over 95 percent recyclable.
On average, class A dishwashers use 1.05 kWh of power per washing cycle. The most economical models of Gorenje washing machines use only 14 liters of water, while the amount of water used to wash the same amount of dishes manually would be between 40 and 80 liters. Washing the dishes in a dishwasher takes twice as little power and water as with manual washing. Additional power savings are enabled by triple drying effect that uses the het from the last rinsing phase.
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Recycling
Gorenje's developers are aware even before a product is launched in the market, that this same product will someday be obsolete. Hence, product development in Gorenje also includes meeting all requirements related to waste management. All products are designed to be as easily disassembled and recycled as possible. The products include as little variants of the same material as possible, to limit the requirements of additional material sorting during the recycling process. Furthermore, minimum number of different joint types is planned to facilitate disassembly at the recycling center. The products are made of materials and components that are at least 80 percent recyclable. All plastic parts are labeled which eases and speeds up the process of sorting by particular types of plastics.
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