Eco circle

Needless to say, composition by materials varies according to the type of appliance, as well as with appliance model within one particular type.

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 160 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 112 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 92 liters per appliance produced.

Investment into improvement of technological procedures and equipment in the last decade resulted in a 83 percent decrease of hazardous waste generated per product, 73 percent decrease in waste disposed per product, 77 percent decrease in total treatment plant load, 63 percent decrease in water consumption per product, and 8 percent decrease in natural gas consumption per appliance produced.

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 in the last twenty years from 44 dBA to 36 dBA in refrigerators and 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.

Most Gorenje cooking appliances launched in 2000 were already class A rated. Relative to the earlier generations, these appliances saved 25-percent of energy. Today all Gorenje cooking appliances introduced in 2008 are rated in energy class A. Additionally, 70 percent of them deliver extra 20 percent of energy savings. Old generation of ovens from 2000 features a 60-litre cavity; the new one offers 65 litres, owing to the innovative HomeMade cavity design that mimics the traditional wood-fired ovens. It allows better cooking results without using any more energy, despite the larger capacity. 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 91 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 10 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. Gorenje washing machines and dryers also offer numerous functions and settings that allow additional savings. In the last twenty years, noise level was reduced from 59 dBA to 48dBA in washing machines and from 85 dBA to 66 dBA in dryers. Gorenje washing machines and dryers are made of materials that are over 90 percent recyclable.

Gorenje's 60 cm wide high end class A++ dishwashers for 13 place settings only consume an average of 0.86 kWh of electric power for a 50° washing program. The most economical models of Gorenje washing machines use only 10 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 half 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.