North Somerset MP, Rt Hon Dr Liam Fox and Ian Moverley, UK Public Affairs Director, Whirlpool Corporation, visiting Whirlpool Seabin in Portis - lo

Rt Hon Liam Fox MP Visits Whirlpool Seabin in Portishead

The North Somerset MP, Rt Hon Dr Liam Fox visited Whirlpool Corporation’s recently installed Seabin at Portishead Quays Marina on Friday.

The Seabin is part of Whirlpool’s campaign to reduce plastic in the UK’s coastal waters and is in partnership with LifeGate PlasticLess®. The campaign aims to start the roll-out of Seabins across the West Country and the UK. As a proud local employer and owner of the last remaining tumble dryer factory in the UK, at Yate near Bristol, Whirlpool was delighted to invite Dr Fox to view the Seabin and discuss further plans to help keep Somerset’s waters clean and free of plastic.

The Seabin at Portishead Quays Marina is designed to collect and store a variety of plastic waste, from bottles to microfibres as tiny as 0.3 mm. A Seabin can catch around 1.5 kg of waste per day, which equates to over 500 kg per year. This means that the Seabin can collect around 90,000 plastic bags and 16,500 one litre, plastic bottles or 33,000, 0.5 litre bottles each year.

At Whirlpool Corporation’s Yate facility, which employs 250 people, they have been zero waste to landfill since 2015, and for over nine years the site has been using reusable mugs in the vending machines.  Furthermore, the company’s headquarters in Peterborough has committed to the eradication of single-use plastic, providing staff with metal water bottles, which is calculated to save 160,000 single-use cups going to landfill annually. In addition, compostable cups for hot drinks have been introduced, at the company’s canteen, saving over 200,000 cups going to landfill each year.

Ian Moverley, UK Public Affairs Director, Whirlpool Corporation explained: “I was delighted to welcome Dr Fox to view the Seabin and discuss Whirlpool’s environmental efforts in north Somerset. As a proud local employer with over a hundred years of manufacturing in the region, we are grateful for Dr Fox’s support and hope to work with him to introduce more Seabins to the local area.”

Rt Hon Dr Liam Fox said: “It has been fantastic to visit Whirlpool’s Seabin here at Portishead and learn how they are leading the charge to reduce plastics in our coastal waters. I’m pleased that a local employer with manufacturing roots in the region are taking it upon themselves to help protect our beautiful natural environment in Somerset. I look forward to working with Whirlpool on more environmental initiatives in the years to come and commend them on their efforts.”

The Seabin’s waste is collected in a bag, which stores up to 20 kg of waste. The marina water is sucked through the Seabin, and is then pumped back into the sea. It can operate around twenty four hours a day on an annual basis, while making an effective change to the cleanliness of the sea in the local area.

Ends

Image captions:

  1. Ian Moverley, UK Public Affairs Director, Whirlpool Corporation
  2. In partnership with the LifeGate PlasticLess® campaign Whirlpool Corporation launched a Seabin at Portishead Quays Marina, north Somerset with a group from Portishead Primary School, local councillors and dignitaries

Notes:

The Whirlpool brand is part of Whirlpool UK Appliances Limited. Superior performance, intuitive technology, and cutting-edge design are the key pillars of the Whirlpool brand, achieving industry and consumer recognition for its collection of intelligent 6TH SENSE® appliance technology.

Contribution to the West Country’s economy:

  • Whirlpool is a major UK employer with a workforce of 2,500 spread across the country
  • Whirlpool has a tumble dryer factory in Yate that employs 250 people
  • Whirlpool has more than 2,000 UK suppliers; £125m annual spend on UK supply chain
  • We’ve been caring for UK families since 1911

About Whirlpool UK Appliances Limited:

Whirlpool UK Appliances Limited is managed by Whirlpool EMEA, part of Whirlpool Corporation, the global leader in manufacturing and marketing of home appliances.

Whirlpool UK Appliances Limited fully supports the AMDEA safety initiative, Register My Appliance, and is committed to encouraging householders to register their appliances: www.registermyappliance.org.uk

About Whirlpool Corporation:

Whirlpool Corporation (NYSE: WHR) is the leading major appliance manufacturer in the world, with approximately $21 billion in annual sales, 92,000 employees and 65 manufacturing and technology research centers in 2018. The company markets Whirlpool, KitchenAid, Maytag, Consul, Brastemp, Amana, Bauknecht, Jenn-Air, Indesit, Hotpoint and other major brand names in nearly every country throughout the world.

In Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) it has approximately 21,000 employees, a sales presence in more than 30 countries and manufacturing sites in seven countries. Whirlpool EMEA is an operating segment of Whirlpool Corporation. Whirlpool Corp.’s EMEA Headquarters are located in Pero (MI), Italy. Additional information about the company can be found at WhirlpoolCorp.com or find us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

About LifeGate:

LifeGate is considered a point of reference for sustainable development. It supports companies in improving their social and environmental impact through strategic communication and consultancy and environmental projects. Through its media network, which engages a community of over 5 million contacts, LifeGate provides people with information and tangible tools to embrace a sustainable lifestyle through their daily choices. Discover more at lifegate.com or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube and Linkedin.

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