White goods manufacturer Electrolux (Stockholm / Sweden; www.electroluxgroup.com) has announced it is developing a refrigerator prototype where all the product’s visible plastic parts are made of bioplastics derived from renewable sources. The group, which owns household names such as AEG and Zanussi, claimed the prototype is a world first. It said the bioplastic used in the refrigerator has a carbon footprint which is more than 80% lower than standard non-bioplastic material. The bioplastics used in the refrigerator, provided by biopolymer supplier NatureWorks (Minnetonka, Minnesota / USA; www.natureworksllc.com), are recyclable.

Electrolux said it is committed to using post-consumer recycled plastics, such as its “CarboRec”, a plastic compound based on recycled polypropylene. The firm’s bioplastic refrigerator is still in development and there is currently no timetable for when the eventual product will be officially launched on the market. Jan Brockmann, Electrolux’s chief operations officer, said the firm’s ambition is to develop more innovative, sustainable home appliances that could come to the market in the future.

According to Electrolux, the group used 5,600 t of recycled plastics in 2017. The company has increased its use of recyclate by 15 times since 2011, and some of its vacuum-cleaner models contain up to 70% recycled plastics. Electrolux targets using 20,000 t of recycled plastics by 2020.