On the 3rd day of our time at IFA 2022 (opens in a new tab) we took our front row seats during the speech by Hakan Bulgurlu, CEO of Arcelik. The hall was quite full and we were excited to hear the vision to solve some of the most pressing challenges facing mankind, as well as the new water-saving innovation everyone has been waiting for.
Arcelik is a leading global manufacturer of household appliances and the parent company of 12 brands including Beko and Grundig. You may have seen some of the best coffee machines (opens in a new tab) and the best vacuum cleaners (opens in a new tab) there are Beko companies in the UK as well as large appliances, and Grundig is paving the way for sustainable innovation in Europe in the categories of personal care and household appliances products.
From the very beginning of the presentation, it became clear that the parent company promotes sustainability in its product and manufacturing innovations. Heavy statistics have been released such as 40% of the world’s electricity used by electric motors, air conditioners, refrigeration and lighting, which is a lot of energy for our everyday appliances.
A new innovation that has been launched but not yet available for purchase is the Beko SaveWater line of appliances, which includes a dishwasher and washer / dryer duo.
The dishwasher uses only 6.9 liters of water to effectively wash the water at full load, compared to Beko dishwashers with the same level of energy and capacity but without SaveWater technology. This feature saves the water from the last rinse phase of the dishwashing cycle by keeping it hygienically and safely in the specially designed water tank of the machine, so it can be reused at the beginning of the next wash, helping to save 2.6 liters of water with each wash cycle. Eco program.
This reuse of water is also the leitmotif of the washing machine and tumble dryer duo. The tumble dryer works in conjunction with compatible Beko washing machines, where the water collected during the drying cycle is fed directly into the washing machine for use in the next wash cycle. Up to 5.2 liters of water will be collected during each drying cycle, safely storing it to supply the washing machine with water.
It’s really ingenious. It was unlike any other innovation we saw at IFA 2022, and we were so impressed that we awarded it the Best Big Device category at the TechRadar IFA Awards (opens in a new tab).
After the presentation, we spent some time at Grundig’s booth. The brand’s goal is to inspire daily activities in pursuit of a better future with products that promote sustainability without compromising quality, in line with its motto “It begins at home”. A lot of brown color, spiced with green, used in the displays, immediately gave us the feeling that we are in touch with nature.
They had a new range to mix with the best vacuum robots (opens in a new tab) vacuum cleaner category: VCR 6270 and VCR 7230. These were Grundig’s first robotic vacuum cleaners, with the difference that the 7230 was self-draining. We would like to be able to offer a review of one of these floor cleaners but unfortunately similar to the hair dryer we have seen (opens in a new tab)it cannot be viewed or purchased in the UK.
It was the same with the Grundig VCC 7170 Eco. It’s a canister vacuum cleaner, which may not look like anything special, but 52% of the plastic used in the design was recycled. This is something that has been really refreshing and is a design issue that we would like to see more of.
The future of sustainable development for Arcelik
The Arcelik team has a clear strategy to be more sustainable in everything they do. Sustainability is recognized as more important than ever. Consumers are looking for brands that they can trust and that reassure them.
Arcelik has long adopted sustainability as its business model and has placed it at the center of everything it does. For example, by 2050, they aim to achieve zero net emissions in all operations through green renewable energy investments; intend to increase the content of recycled plastics to 40% and bio-based products to 5% in all their products; and the brand will reduce energy consumption and water consumption per product by 45% in production (compared to the base year 2015).
We met with Ragip Balcıoğlu, commercial director at Arcelik, who reiterated these plans and explained how being more sustainable would align with the cost of living in a crisis we all face.
Internally, we innovate on how to be much more economical and therefore not pass the whole burden on to consumers, especially in this day and age. Your energy bills will be much higher due to working from home, the need to replace the appliance will still exist. On the one hand, you want to save the planet, and on the other hand, there is an urgent need to change your old device to a new one in order to get a more energy-efficient device. Our motto is to increase the demand for energy-saving devices, while increasing the availability of products.
Ragip Balcıoğlu, commercial director
Making energy-efficient, sustainable products more accessible to consumers (you, our readers) is Arcelik’s main goal. They invested 93 million euros ($ 92.5 million / £ 80.4 million / $ 135.9 million) in research and development in 2021 and will continue to listen to their consumers and meet the needs of the planet in their future innovations.
IFA 2022 is the largest technology program in Europe and TechRadar is in Berlin to bring you all the top news and announcements as well as our hands-on first impressions of new TVs, wearables, audio devices and other gadgets on display.