29/10/2009

Indesit Company receives The 2009 Sustainable Development Award for “Made in Italy” Green Economy

The Fabriano group was given a President of the Republic medal at the Ecomondo-Rimini Fiera for the high energy efficiency of its new home appliances and innovations in the recycling process.

Rimini, 29th October 2009 – Products so efficient and sustainable they deserve a medal. Indesit Company has won the 2009 Sustainable Development Award in the energy efficiency category, an accolade bestowed on enterprises excelling in commitment to innovation and performance geared to sustainable development by the Foundation of the same name and under the aegis of the Office of the President of the Republic. The award, to be handed over today at the Fiera di Rimini on the occasion of the 2009 Ecomondo, which showcases renewable energy technology and green economy, was given to Indesit Company for its new appliances, above all its low consumption/high energy efficiency washing machines and dishwashers (which can also boast reduced water consumption) and for the innovations it has introduced in its manufacturing process, such as special indexes for measuring product recyclablity.
Since the potential for selling high energy efficiency appliances on the market is very high – reads the citation – the performance characteristics of the new models promise significant environmental benefits: first of all, a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions due to lower consumption of electricity from fossil fuels. Indesit Company has introduced various product innovations to reduce energy consumption, the more recent including eco-programmes for washing machines using water at room-temperature, solutions optimising the use of water and energy on the basis of the quantity of laundry loaded, new generation motors and turbidity sensors that help reduce consumption of water and energy in dishwashers.

"The medal received today goes to all our colleagues who in various ways have worked on the development of these excellent, innovative and extremely high quality products,”, said Indesit Company Quality & Environment Director Enrico Cola. “It’s partly thanks to us that we continue to invest in low consumption/high performance appliances, that a collective awareness has grown and will continue to benefit us all. This is a value for us, one that we have always invested in the green economy by developing products that are increasingly technologically advanced but also easy to use, “clean”, recyclable and with a lower environmental impact, even in the production phase ".

Indesit Company received the President of the Republic’s medal along with Cantine Lungarotti, in Torgiano (TR), in the renewable energy category, and Montello di Montello (VR), in the waste disposal category. “These three enterprises and the many other companies that took part in these awards,” said Edo Ronchi, chairman of the Sustainable Development Foundation, “show that there’s a lot of green in the Italian “engine”. The figures speak for themselves: in 2008, production of renewables rose 21%, while the overall sales of the green economy was €5.2 billion. This is an important signal, evidence of an innovative vision that Italian industry is beginning to take notice of”.

Indesit Company is Europe’s second largest producer of household appliances by market share. It leads the market in Italy, the UK, Russia, Portugal, Romania, Bulgaria and the Ukraine and is amongst the leaders in France, Poland, Turkey, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Greece. Founded in 1975 by the current chairman Vittorio Merloni and listed on the Milan stock exchange since 1987, the Group posted sales of €3.2 billion in 2008, having turned out 15 million appliances (washing machines, washer-dryers, dishwashers, fridges, freezers, ovens and hobs). Indesit Company operates through 17 production facilities (in Italy, Poland, UK, Russia and Turkey) and 24 commercial branches worldwide and employs 17,000 people. Indesit, Hotpoint-Ariston and Scholtès are the Group’s main brands.



For further information:
External Communication and Press Office
Federico Ziller, phone: +39 0732 66 2432, cell. 335 75 55 508
e-mail: federico.ziller@indesit.com
Chiara Iasiuolo, phone: +39 0732 66 2048, cell. 334 66 60 247
e-mail: chiara.iasiuolo@indesit.com