Whirlpool UK Appliances Limited, the home of Hotpoint, Indesit, Whirlpool and KitchenAid brands, hosted almost 60 students from Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire and Lincolnshire for the official launch of its Purposeful Innovation competition. The event, which was held at the company’s World of Whirlpool centre in Peterborough, marked the beginning of its sustainability challenge which tasks secondary school students with re-designing a popular appliance to be more environmentally friendly.
During the launch event, competition participants had an unmissable opportunity to discover the inner workings of kitchen appliances and their environmental impact, through product demonstrations and deconstructions, provided by Whirlpool UK’s engineers and product designers. Students also learnt about key consumer motivations when it comes to kitchen appliances and sustainability, which will help them to design a product that is commercially viable and takes into consideration factors such as time, cost, functionality, space, aesthetics and convenience, as well as impact on the environment.
Now, equipped with all the knowledge they need to compete in Whirlpool’s Purposeful Innovation competition, over the next eight weeks students will work together in teams of five to redesign either a tumble dryer, washing machine or fridge-freezer. Each team will put together an entry, explaining how their product will work and look. The redesigned product must achieve one or more of the following objectives: be manufactured in a more environmentally friendly way; reduce energy and/or water consumption of the product; reduce consumer food waste.
The competition will culminate in a live final at Whirlpool UK’s Peterborough headquarters in June 2022, where one winning team will receive a new kitchen appliance of choice for their school and each of the five team members’ homes. The winners will also get a behind the scenes tour of Whirlpool UK’s Yate factory, located in Bristol, which manufactures half a million tumble dryers for UK homes every year. The runners-up will also win a tour of Whirlpool UK’s Yate Factory and additional prizes will be awarded for a range of other skills demonstrated during the competition, such as teamwork, creativity, sustainable innovation and ingenuity.
Ian Moverley, Communications Director, Whirlpool UK Appliances Limited, commented: “It was a pleasure to welcome so many enthusiastic students to our World of Whirlpool centre for the launch of our Purposeful Innovation competition. Whirlpool UK’s mission is to improve life at home and this includes looking after our planet. While we are making great progress to achieving 2030 Net Zero targets across our global factories and headquarters, we want to ensure we are constantly evolving our products to support our customers with reducing their environmental footprint too. Young people are filled with creative and passionate ideas, and we hope that our Purposeful Innovation competition can help to inspire some of the sustainable innovations that will define the future of kitchen appliances.”
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Image captions:
- Students received a demonstration of the inner workings of a tumble dryer
- Students attended the Purposeful Innovation launch event at Whirlpool UK’s headquarters in Peterborough
About Whirlpool UK Appliances Limited:
Whirlpool UK Appliances Limited is managed by Whirlpool EMEA, part of Whirlpool Corporation.
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 committed to being the best global kitchen and laundry company, in constant pursuit of improving life at home. In an increasingly digital world, the company is driving purposeful innovation to meet the evolving needs of consumers through its iconic brand portfolio, including Whirlpool, KitchenAid, Maytag, Consul, Brastemp, Amana, Bauknecht, JennAir, Indesit and Yummly. In 2021, the company reported approximately $22 billion in annual sales, 69,000 employees and 54 manufacturing and technology research centers. Additional information about the company can be found at WhirlpoolCorp.com.
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21st April 2022
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