Sustainability_GROHE Clean-up Bosnia and Herzegovina

Together for a plastic-free future: GROHE is tackling the plastic crisis with the help of partners and customers

54 percent of European consumers want to contribute to a plastic-free world1
GROHE Blue: GROHE enables retail partners to offer concrete solutions for a more sustainable everyday life and a direct environmental impact
30 tons of waste collected: Successful clean-up mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina thanks to GROHE Blue customers

Düsseldorf, 16th March 2022 – Consumers increasingly want to make a contribution to the global fight against climate change by choosing a more sustainable lifestyle and product solutions that help them do so. In a representative study conducted by YouGov on behalf of GROHE, 54 percent of respondents stated that a new product should support them in saving plastic in their daily life – before saving waste (53 percent) and energy (51 percent).(1) Living spaces like kitchens are a focal point of consumers’ daily lives. Kitchen studios and installers are uniquely placed to help reduce plastic usage by offering innovative products and becoming trusted sustainability experts. GROHE, a global brand for complete bathroom solutions and kitchen fittings, is offering its retail partners a product line ideally positioned to reduce end-users’ plastic footprint.

A portfolio tailored to consumer expectations

Having a portfolio that meets consumers’ sustainability needs while providing high-quality products is a win-win for professional partners and their clients alike. With its GROHE Blue water system, the brand has established a true gamechanger: Not only does it offer chilled, filtered and, if desired, carbonated water directly from the tap at home, but it also allows consumers to avoid plastic bottles, saving a family of four up to 800 single-use plastic bottles a year.(2) The product provides the same if not greater convenience in everyday life, while directly contributing to a future of reduced plastic at the same time. If there is no action, the problem of plastic waste will only get worse. The latest study by the WWF anticipates the plastic waste concentration in oceans to quadruple by 2050.(3) ”We can only tackle this crisis together. As a brand of the LIXIL family, it is absolutely essential for GROHE to ensure we protect the resources mother nature has given us. One organization or brand alone cannot achieve what needs to be done and so we want to enable consumers and partners alike to create a more sustainable future together,” says Jonas Brennwald, Leader LIXIL EMENA and Co-CEO Grohe AG. “With innovative products like the GROHE Blue water system, we support our B2B partners in joining us on this journey with an innovative, high-quality product portfolio that allows them and their customers to make a real difference.”

Solutions with a direct impact

Products such as GROHE Blue offer a real solution for a more sustainable everyday life. In addition to enabling consumers to avoid plastic bottles, GROHE supports the reduction of already existent plastic waste. Since 2019, the brand has been joining forces with everwave(4), an environmental non-governmental organisation that uses innovative waste collection boats to collect plastic waste before it damages marine ecosystems. As part of GROHE’s “Made for your water” campaign, consumers were given the chance to make a direct contribution towards a cleaner environment. For every GROHE Blue purchased between 1st August and 31st December 2021, GROHE and everwave committed to collecting one kilo of waste with the help of everwave’s “CollectiX” boat. Thanks to these contributions, the joint clean-up mission has removed a total of 30 tons of waste from the Bočac Reservoir in Bosnia and Herzegovina in February 2022 – this equals the weight of over one million 1.5l PET-bottles(5).

Clemens Feigl, CEO & Co-Founder of everwave, explains: “GROHE’s ‘Made for your water’ campaign highlights how to balance commercial and sustainability goals. We are proud to have a partner in GROHE who shares our vision of a better, plastic-free future and with whom we can raise awareness for the prevailing plastic crisis and drive concrete action. We are looking forward to many more projects to come.”

The collaboration with everwave is part of GROHE’s comprehensive sustainability efforts: It is one of three important pillars of the brand’s Less Plastic Initiative which was launched in 2018. Besides offering innovative water systems, such as GROHE Blue, the brand also works towards eliminating unnecessary plastic in product packaging.

GROHE wins Special Award at Kitchen Innovation Award

For its responsible corporate management with regards to “Conservation of resources”, “Climate-neutral production” and “Global social engagement”, GROHE has been awarded the special prize at the annual German Kitchen Innovation Award 2022.

(1) Survey with 1.000 citizens from 7 European countries: Germany, Italy, Russia, France, The Netherlands, Denmark and United Kingdom (2021)

(2) Environmental Action Germany (DUH): https://www.duh.de/mehrweg-klimaschutz0/einweg-plastikflaschen/

(3) Impacts of plastic pollution in the oceans on marine species, biodiversity and ecosystems (WWF Germany): https://www.wwf.de/fileadmin/fm-wwf/Publikationen-PDF/Plastik/WWF-Impacts_of_plastic_pollution_in_the_ocean_on_marine_species__biodiversity_and_ecosystems.pdf

(4) Formerly known as Parcific Garbage Screening

(5) The weighted average for the 1.5l PET non-returnable bottles is 29.47 g according to the AKÖG ÖKO-Index 2019 survey: https://www.bgvz.de/downloads/pdfs/PreisLeistungsVerhaeltnis-Gewichtsreduktion-BGVZ.pdf