Are today’s fridges helping polar bears?Product guides to: Fridges & freezers Washing machines Cookers, Kettles

Plus: which brands of binoculars are wildlife friendly?

£4.25EC

171 March/A

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who’s who this Issue’s editor Rob Harrisonproofing Ciara Maginness (littlebluepencil.co.uk)writers/researchers Jane Turner, Tim Hunt, Leonie Nimmo, Rob Harrison, Heather Webb, Anna Clayton, Joanna Long, Josie Wexler, Ruth Strange, Mackenzie Denyer, Clare Carlile, Francesca de la Torreregular contributors Simon Birch, Bryony Moore, Shaun Fensom, Colin Birch design and layout Adele Armistead (Moonloft), Jane Turnercover © Iakov Filimonov and Andreykuzmin | Dreamstime.com and Adele Armistead (Moonloft) cartoons Marc Roberts, Andy Vine, Richard Liptrotad sales Simon Birchsubscriptions Elizabeth Chater, Francesca Thomaspress enquiries Simon Birch, Tim Huntenquiries Heather Webbweb editor Georgina Rawesthanks also to Eleanor Boyce, Ashraf Hamad

All material correct one month before cover date and © Ethical Consumer Research Association Ltd. ISSN 0955 8608.

Printed with vegetable ink by RAP Spiderweb Ltd, c/o the Commercial Centre, Clowes Centre, Hollinwood, Oldham OL9 7LY. 0161 947 3700. Paper: 100% post-consumer waste, chlorine-free and sourced from the only UK paper merchant supplying only recycled papers – Paperback (www.paperbackpaper.co.uk).

Retail distribution is handled by Central Books on 0845 458 9911. Ethical Consumer is a member of INK (independent news collective), an association of radical and alternative publishers - www.ink.uk.com.

We are a Living Wage employer and a multi-stakeholder co-op.

about the advertisersECRA checks out advertisers before accepting their ads and reserves the right to refuse any advert.Covered in previous Product Guides: Co-operative phone & broadband (145), Fry’s (160), Kingfisher Toothpaste (165) Plamil (168), Vegetarian Shoes (162), Windmill Organics (170), Greenfibres (170), Infinity Wholefoods (160).Other advertisers: Abundance, Amnesty International, Castlefield Partners, Green Building Store, Green Stationery, Global Justice Network, Investing Ethically, Mines Advisory Group, Oiko, Shared Interest, YnNi Teg.

Ethical Consumer Research Association LtdUnit 21, 41 Old Birley Street, Manchester, M15 5RFt: 0161 226 2929 (12 noon-6pm) e: enquiries@ethicalconsumer.org for general enquiries shop@ethicalconsumer.org for subscriptions.

Contentsethicalconsumer.org MARCH/APRIL 2018

06 food & home plasticinteabags,supermarkets

&plastic,animaltestingban

08 boycotts Amazon,BodyShopvictory

09 clothes fur,genderlessclothing,newBest

Buys,fightfastfashion

18 ethical novice thetrialsandtribulationsof

buyinganewfridge

35 Lush Spring Prize shortlistforannualawards

announced

38 tax justice LuxLeaksvictory,Apple&HMRC,

FairTaxMarknews

39 money banks’linkstoIsraelimilitary

43 beyond consumerism banningcorporateadvertising

47 climate NewYorkdivestsfromfossilfuels,

BPornotBPprotest

Follow us: @EC_magazine

Ethical Consumer Magazine

product guides

news

home appliances10 introduction,EUenergylabels,

disposingofoldmachines

fridges12 HFCsandenergyefficiency

14 scoretableandBestBuysadvice

16 avoidingfoodwaste

washing machines19 energyuse

20 scoretableandBestBuysadvice

22 nanotechnology,doingwithout

25 companyprofiles

cookers, ovens & hobs26 energyefficiency,gasvselectric

28 scoretableandBestBuysadvice

kettles30 energyuse,hobvselectric

32 scoretableandBestBuysadvice

p12

p4�

regulars

48 subscriptions takeoutasubscriptionorgivea

giftthatlastsayear

49 letters aregularforumforreaders’views

50 inside view vegangoesmainstream

features

36 Agroforestry what’ssogoodaboutusingtrees

infarming?

40 Shooting wildlife whichopticsarewildlifefriendly?

44 Slaves of fashion newartexhibition

p40

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Editorialethicalconsumer.org MARCH/APRIL 2018

Stop Funding HateOne of the long term trends in ethical consumption is a decline in boycotts and a rise in positive buying, helped by the rise of ethical labels and smaller ethical companies.

One recent development in the UK to buck that trend has been the Stop Funding Hate campaign which aims to challenge companies advertising in the Daily Mail, the Sun and the Express. It asks advertisers to consider whether they are funding the hate speech which has been widely observed to be occurring in these newspapers, and we wrote about it in the last issue of the magazine.

It is one of the most interesting consumer campaigns around in the UK, not least because of its meteoric rise to public attention. Its Facebook page has nearly 250,000 followers and its crowdfunding campaign last year raised more than £100,000 in 28 days. Lego and Pizza Hut are among the companies promising to change what they do as a result.

Boris pushes back!

In the run up to Christmas, much public attention was gained when high-street retailer Paperchase apologised publicly when it was criticised for running a promotion with the Daily Mail. Stop Funding Hate’s founder, Richard Wilson, appeared on BBC2’s Newsnight, and the Daily Mail and the Sun started pushing back. The Foreign Secretary, writing in the Sun, took the curious line that “Leftie activists trying to silence newspapers they dislike are attacking the very basis of our democracy.” And the Daily Mail took a similar line when it wrote in its usual measured language: “The real hatemongers: A tiny bunch of zealots called Stop Funding Hate are trying to gag Britain’s free press.”

At Ethical Consumer, one of the measures of success of a campaign that we use is the degree to which its targets fight back. By this measure, Stop Funding Hate is clearly having a real impact at the heart of businesses which

have used aggressive language to try to control the terms of public debate for many years.

Ethical advertising?

The campaign itself is careful not to use the language of boycott. According to the Stop Funding Hate website:

“If you are affected by media hate, or concerned about media hate, then you have the right to use your voice as a consumer to ask the companies you shop with not to advertise in newspapers that publish hateful, inflammatory and divisive stories... We are not ourselves campaigning for a boycott of any advertiser. Our role is to provide information, so that customers can make their own decisions.”

However, for both its supporters and detractors, the word boycott is much more freely used. And for those of us who study consumer campaigning, it certainly looks quite like a boycott.

Interestingly, some common ground between advertisers and campaigners might be emerging. At Ethical Consumer’s own annual conference in October last year, Richard Wilson was one of our speakers, and there was certainly much talk about what an ethical advertising policy might look like.

There is a growing list of ethical advertisers on the Stop Funding Hate’s website. We look forward to seeing how this will develop in the coming year.

In this magazineIn Ethical Consumer’s tenth review of domestic appliances, one encouraging long-term trend is the increase in energy efficiency seen over this period, driven – at least in part – by the EU’s energy label where consumers play a key role. Unsurprisingly, given the current political situation, there is uncertainty about what this will look like in the future as the label itself continues to develop during the whole Brexit period. Like many others in this space, we will continue to push for common sense to prevail.

Rob Harrison Editor

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Food & HomeMARCH/APRIL 2018 ethicalconsumer.org

Unilever sells its spreadsUnilever has sold its Flora, Bertolli, Stork, and I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter spread brands to private equity firm and buyout giant KKR for £6 billion.

Under Unilever’s control, these brands use to score 3 out of 20 on our score tables. Its score has now increased to an equally unimpressive 5 out of 20.

Margarine has been central to the Unilever business since the company was formed in 1929 by the merger of Lever Brothers, which was making soap from its factory in Port Sunlight, Merseyside, and Margarine Unie, a collection of margarine makers across Europe.

But margarine sales have been in decline over the last few years with many consumers returning to buying butter.

KKR (Kohlberg Kravis, Roberts) is famous for its massive buyouts. It owns the popular websites Trainline and WebMD. Forbes estimates the net worth of the two living founders, Mr. Kravis and his cousin Mr. Roberts, at $5.1 billion each.

Holland & Barrett soldHealth food and supplements shop Holland & Barrett, which appeared in our plant milk guide and also in our toiletries guide under the Dr Organics range, has been sold to an investment company, LetterOne, based in Luxembourg.

It was owned by another investment company, the Carlyle Group, and scored 4 out of 20 on our ratings tables. The sale has not altered its score.

LetterOne was set up by Russian billionaire business man Mikhail Fridman with the proceeds of the sale of Russian oil company joint venture TNK-BP. Its investments are now focused on the telecoms, health, technology and energy sectors – including gas and oil exploration. It also has a $200 million investment in taxi firm Uber.

Aldi UK is cruelty-free certifiedIn January, all Aldi’s own-brand beauty and household products in the UK and Ireland were certified as cruelty free, and can now display the Leaping Bunny symbol. Whilst this is excellent news, Aldi still gets a worst rating for animal testing because its products in the rest of the world have not been cruelty-free certified.

Is there plastic in your tea bags?Britain drinks 165 million cuppas a day: that’s two and a half cups per person per day. Virtually all of these cuppas are made with a tea bag. Sadly though, almost every tea bag sold in the UK contains plastic.

It is not just in the packaging around the bags and box,

but in the tea bags themselves. Which

means that our tea addiction is maybe threatening the environment, particularly the oceans. The

addition of non-biodegradable plastic

also means that tea bags will no longer

completely break down on our compost heaps.

Tea bags used to be just made of muslin or paper. But in recent years companies have started using 20-30% polypropylene alongside paper fibre, apparently to help heat seal the tea bags during manufacture so they don’t come open in the box, or in your cup. Did we use to have this problem?

The UK’s biggest brands all admitted to using plastic polymers. PG Tips, Tetley’s, Yorkshire Tea, Taylors, Clipper, Co-op, Aldi, and Twinings are all among the offenders, according to a Moral Fibres blog.

A 38 Degrees petition is targeting Unilever, owner of the PG Tips brand, the bestselling tea brand in the UK. Since September, the company now also owns Pukka Herbs, one of only a few brands to say that their bags were plastic free.

Now campaigners are demanding that the rest of the company follow suit. Mark Armitage, who founded the campaign stated, “As a market leader and the recent purchaser of Pukka teas, Unilever could help make a positive difference to the environment by removing plastic now.”

Sign the 38 Degrees petition – https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/remove-plastics-from-tea-bags

Jacksons of Piccadilly and Teapigs were the only other major brands to state that they did not use plastic in their teabags.

As we went to press, the Co-op said its Fairtrade 99 tea bags would be plastic free this year with the rest of its own-label ‘standard’ tea range to follow. “Even though it’s a relatively small amount, when you consider the 60bn cups of tea that are brewed up every year in the UK, we are looking at around 150 tonnes of polypropylene – that’s an enormous amount of accumulated plastic waste that is either contaminating food waste compost collections or simply going to landfill,” said Jo Whitfield, chief executive of Co-op Food.

Of our Best Buys from our tea guide, the following companies confirmed that they do not use plastic in their tea bags: Equal Exchange, Steenbergs, Hampstead Tea.

Until our favourite cuppas go plastic-free, it might be time to opt for loose leaf teas.

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Food & Homeethicalconsumer.org MARCH/APRIL 2018

Supermarkets make plastic packaging plansDespite the lack of urgency in the prime minister’s pledge to ban all avoidable plastic waste in the UK within 25 years, supermarkets have been making statements about their plastic packaging. The EU has also set a target of clamping down on single-use plastics and wants every piece of packaging on the continent to be reusable or recyclable by 2030.

About 6.3 billion tonnes of plastic waste had been generated globally by 2015, with almost 80% of it going to landfills or the natural environment. Only 9% of it has been recycled.1

Iceland was the first supermarket to act and has said it will eliminate or drastically reduce plastic packaging of all its own-label products by the end of 2023.

By 2025, Tesco wants all its packaging to be recyclable or compostable.

Sainsbury’s has set a target to reduce packaging by a half by 2020, compared to 2005.

Waitrose plans to make its own-label packaging widely recyclable, reusable or home compostable by 2025.

Co-op aims for 80% of its products to have “easily recyclable” packaging by 2020.

Aldi wants to source all its pulp-based packaging from certified forests by 2020.

Marks & Spencer says that more than 90% of all its UK packaging is recyclable, and less than 1% (by weight) of all its packaging can be traced back to polystyrene.

However, Greenpeace has said that “more radical and comprehensive policies” are needed. Greenpeace UK suggests retailers should:

Eliminate all non-recyclable plastics from own-brand products.

Remove single-use plastic packaging for own-brand products.

Trial dispensers and refillable containers for own-brand items like shampoos, house cleaning products, and beverages.

Push national brand suppliers to eliminate non-recyclable plastics and to stop using single-use plastic packaging.

Install free water fountains in store and water refill stations.

Support plastic bottle deposit return schemes in store.

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• References: 1 Iceland supermarket chain aims to be plastic free by 2023, BBC News, 16 Jan 2018

6.3 billion tonnes of plastic waste had been generated globally by 2015, with almost 80% of it going to landfills or the natural environment.

Trial reusable packaging and product refills via home deliveries.

Sign the SumOfUs petition asking supermarkets to get rid of plastic packaging – https://act.sumofus.org/go/387753

A round-up of some other companies’ actions on plastic:

Bio-D, our Best Buy household products company, will make its entire range packaged in 100% recycled plastic by the end of 2018.

Pizza Express announced it’s banning plastic straws.

Costa will now refill water bottles for free to cut down on plastic waste.

McDonald’s promised to make all its packaging from recycled material by 2025.

Wetherspoons and others have banned plastic straws in favour of biodegradable ones.

The London Standard is campaigning to get plastic straws banned in London.

Global animal testing banCruelty Free International has joined forces with The Body Shop to launch the Forever Against Animal Testing campaign and put a permanent end to animal suffering for cosmetics products and ingredients by 2021. The aim is to deliver a petition – with a target of 8 million signatures – to the highest authority, the United Nations, in 2018, and establish an international convention banning cosmetics testing on animals.

The global petition has been signed by over 3.7 million people, including MEPs, 100 MPs and celebrities. Support for the EDM, put forward by MPs Caroline Lucas, Sir David Amess, Angela Smith, Dr Lisa Cameron and Sir Ed Davey to debate the issue in parliament, has steadily grown.

The European Union has banned the testing and sale of animal-tested cosmetics but, despite the availability of approved non-animal tests and existing ingredients safe for human use, there are still no laws banning animal tests for cosmetics products and ingredients in 80% of the world.

Sign the petition and help introduce an international law that will end animal testing for cosmetics products and ingredients everywhere and forever. www.foreveragainstanimaltesting.com

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BoycottsMARCH/APRIL 2018 ethicalconsumer.org

Amazon Boycott NewsAmazon asks civic leaders to keep bids for HQ2 secret

Amazon has stated that cities must not publish any ongoing bids to host its second North American headquarters. Several of the bids already offered by US cities have received wide-spread criticism for offering billions of dollars in tax incentives.1

The company triggered the bizarre bidding war in September 2017, when it announced plans for a new corporate headquarters. The offices will be worth up to $5 billion in investments, and employ 50,000 people. 238 cities submitted initial bids for Amazon’s HQ2, and these have now been shortlisted by the company to a final 20.

Amazon – which has a turnover of over £100 billion – stated that a ‘business-friendly’ tax structure was a high-priority in considering proposals. It asked cities to outline incentives, including land, tax credits/exemptions, and relocation and workforce grants.2

Only 40 of the original bids were made public. But they already show that the cities are being forced to trade off between generating jobs and funding public services through corporate taxation.

Newark offered the company over $7 billion in benefits, including $5 billion in tax incentives.3

Chicago has offered between 50 and 100% of its workers’ income taxes if it builds its second headquarters there.3 Workers would continue to be taxed on their wages, but the revenue would be redirected back to the company.4 Both cities have been shortlisted by the company.

73 civic leaders wrote to Amazon asking that it voluntarily pays a fair share of tax in whatever city it eventually chooses: “You have

your list of things you’re looking for from cities – but we live in these cities, and we’ve got some expectations of our own for Amazon.

What you’re looking for will impact every part of our cities. We built these cities, and we want to make sure they remain ours.”

Amazon’s request for secrecy, however, means that the bids from now on will not be available for public scrutiny.

The company is seeking to override local votes by demanding its own, special treatment when it comes to taxation. We would urge these cities to boycott Amazon and to seek the creation instead of new rules which prohibit deliberate tax avoidance.

Find out more about our Amazon Boycott and see our shopping guides to Alternatives to Amazon – www.ethicalconsumer.org/boycotts/boycottamazon

Body Shop boycott called offThe Body Shop’s new owner, Natura, has announced a clear animal testing policy, after hundreds of consumers wrote to the company. The announcement ends an eleven-year boycott of the high street chain.

The Body Shop has been cruelty-free since its foundation. But, in 2006, it was purchased by L’Oréal, well known for animal testing, prompting Naturewatch to launch a boycott call against it.

Naturewatch maintained its call to boycott The Body Shop in 2017 after the brand was bought by Natura, Brazil’s largest cosmetics company.

Animal rights activists had hoped that the buyout would return the brand to its ethical origins. But hopes were dashed after Natura refused to answer questions about its own cruelty-free claims.

Supporters of the boycott wrote to the company demanding transparency. And, in December, Natura responded, announcing a new policy on animal testing.

Crucially, the new policy bans ingredients that have been tested on animals since March 2013. This is known as a fixed cut-off date (FCOD), and is what Naturewatch calls “the gold standard” for all cruelty-free products. Almost all ingredients in cosmetics have been tested on animals at some stage in their development. But companies with an FCOD discourage current or future animal testing.

Natura and its subsidiary brands, including Aesop and The Body Shop, choose not to sell in markets where animal testing is required for regulatory purposes, such as China.

Naturewatch has now lifted the boycott call, and has invited both Natura and The Body Shop to join its list of cruelty-free cosmetics brands.

Chicago has offered Amazon between 50 – 100% of its worker’s income taxes.

References: 1 https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/25/amazon-insists-on-new-factor-for-cities-still-in-hq2-race-secrecy.html, viewed 30 January 2018 2 https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/G/01/Anything/test/images/usa/RFP_3._V516043504_.pdf, viewed 8 January 2018 3 http://uk.businessinsider.com/amazon-headquarters-city-proposals-hq2-2017-10, viewed 30 January 2018 4 Amazon HQ2: Chicago offers tech giant $1.32bn of its worker’s income taxes to host its new headquarters, The Independent, 27 November 2017

The very first Body Shop store opened in 1976 in Brighton. By 1982 new shops were opening at a rate of two a month.

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Clothesethicalconsumer.org MARCH/APRIL 2018

#FightFastFashion campaignA big thank you to everyone who took part in our social media campaign during the first week of January.

This is the third year Ethical Consumer has run the campaign to highlight how second-hand clothing is a cheaper and just-as-exciting alternative compared to buying new. We were encouraging consumers to avoid mindless consumption encouraged by events like the January sales and, instead, to love the clothes they already own.

We asked readers to post a picture of their favourite pre-loved or long-loved item of clothing to help #FightFastFashion. We have had a fantastic response as people flocked to Instagram and Twitter to express their support for slow fashion.

It became somewhat of a competition as people shared stories of their favourite item of clothing that they have cherished for 10 years, 20 years and beyond. Feel free to add your favourite item on our social media channels. Together we can #FightFastFashion.

See the News story on our website for more information on the campaign.

Don’t forget to take part in the Six Items ChallengeIn the last issue we promoted the ‘Six Items Challenge’, a pledge to challenge fast fashion by wearing only six items for six weeks. You can raise money for Labour Behind the Label in the process. The event kicks off on 14th February and runs until 29th March. Register now at http://labourbehindthelabel.org/get-involved/fundraise-for-us/the-six-items-challenge

Two new clothing Best BuysTwo new companies have been added to the Alternative Clothing guide (originally in EC168) – Earthmonk and Where Does It Come From?

Earthmonk sells organic t-shirts, hoodies and wool beanies for men and women whilst Where does it come from? sells organic shirts for men and women and organic kids clothes.

Each Where does it come from? garment has a code on it which you can use to trace the garment right back to the crop in the field.

Earthmonk has applied for and been awarded our Best Buy logo which it can use on its products.

See all our Best Buy Label products – www.ethicalconsumer.org/shoppingethically/bestbuylabel

John Lewis childrenswear goes genderlessJohn Lewis has decided to remove boys and girls labels from children’s clothing to reduce gender stereotypes.

New labels will say ‘Girls & Boys’ or ‘Boys & Girls’ and will be put on all own-brand clothes from newborns to age 14. Additionally, John Lewis are creating a ‘gender neutral’ line of clothing, and have removed gender-specific signage in the

childrenswear sections in their stores.

This progressive move has been welcomed by campaign group Let Clothes Be Clothes but the group acknowledges that there is still a long way to go for genderless clothing to be commonplace on the high street. “Higher-end, independent clothing retailers have been more pro-active at creating gender-neutral collections, but we hope unisex ranges

will filter down to all price points. We still see many of the supermarkets, for example, using stereotypical slogans on their clothing,” it said.

However, John Lewis isn’t the first retailer to promote genderless fashion. In 2016, Zara introduced a range of gender-neutral clothing. It wasn’t long until H&M followed suit and, in 2017, they introduced a gender-fluid denim line.

Fur newsAn investigation by Sky News and Humane Society International (HSI) has discovered a number of well-known companies, such as TK Maxx, Boohoo, Amazon, Not on the High Street, and Etsy, have been using real fur in clothing advertised as ‘faux fur’.

These brands claim to have a ‘no fur policy’ but were found to be using rabbit, mink and fox. Laboratory tests revealed items such as bobble hats, scarves, shoes and coats advertised as faux fur to be real animal fur.

Real fur generally comes from one of two cruel practices: fur trapping and fur farming. Although fur farming was outlawed in the UK in 2000, and EU regulations ban fur from domestic cats, dogs or commercial seal hunts, the UK still imports and sells fur from a range of other species such as fox, rabbit, mink, coyote, racoon dog, and chinchilla.

You can find a full item list for fake faux fur items here: http://bit.ly/Fakefaux. Additionally, you can sign HSI’s #FurFreeBritain petition: www.hsi.org/banfur

Meanwhile, Burberry continues to sell real fur from animals like raccoons and rabbits.

Sign the Care2 petition to ask Burberry to stop selling real fur just for fashion and pledge to boycott Burberry until they do this. Search the web for Care2 petition Burberry.

Because of the increases in energy efficiency in the fridge and washing machine market, some manufacturers are now using an unofficial labelling that indicates how much more efficient their products are above the current top rating of A+++.

Score table highlights

Defence industry links

Some of the bigger household appliance companies specialise in mechanical engineering. Nine of them manufacture a whole host of military technology, from drones to armoured vehicles to communications equipment. This point is drawn out on our score tables, where the companies are marked down under our Arms & Military Supply category.Those that were deducted a full mark were:

Zorlu Holding (Servis) – drones and fuel cells for armoured vehicles for the Turkish defence industry.1

Koç Holding (Beko, Blomberg, Grundig) – also supply the Turkish defence industry with armoured vehicles, including battle tanks.Panasonic – computers and communications equipment in the USA.Bosch – communications equipment to the US Department of Defense.Liebherr – armoured cranes, flight control systems, landing gear, air management systems, gears and gearboxes for combat aircraft, military transporters, military training aircraft and combat helicopters.2

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These guides cover 42 companies across four home appliances:fridges and freezers – page 12washing machines – page 19cookers, ovens & hobs – page 26kettles – page 30

Updated guides to microwaves and dishwashers will be published shortly on our website.

Energy efficiencyThe dominant theme in all these guides is energy efficiency. Because of European legislation, washing machines, cookers and fridges all need to display an energy efficiency label. Unfortunately, there is no energy label for kettles.

Ethical Consumer’s position is that all products that consume energy should display an energy efficiency rating and label.

Energy labels show how an appliance ranks on a scale from A to G according to its energy consumption. Class A (green) is the most energy efficient and Class G (red) the least. Currently, once most appliances of a given type reach Class A, up to three further classes can be added to the scale: A+, A++ and A+++.

Due to improved energy efficiency in many products, more and more appliances are ranked within the A+, A++ and A+++ grades. This has proven to be confusing for consumers so the decision has been taken to phase out these rankings by 2020.3 The new grading system will revert back to the A to G rankings (without the A+, A++ and A+++), although this scale will run alongside the current grades for some time until completely phased out. There is no indication to date that the government plans to drop these labels in a future Brexit scenario.

Our research has shown that even though retailers and manufacturers are legally obliged to display the energy labels, many online retailers are, unfortunately, failing to do so. See the box opposite.

Cooker and kettle manufacturers are lagging some way behind when it comes to improving energy performance. Only two models of cooker get the top rating for energy efficiency, whereas eight brands of washing machine got the top energy efficiency rating for all models made. Most fridge brands sold some models that got the top rating.

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How climate friendly are your home appliances?

Josie Wexler, Clare Carlile, Mackenzie Denyer and Jane Turner investigate.

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Home appliancesMARCH/APRIL 2018 ethicalconsumer.org

ProductGUIDE

References: 1 Vestel Defence Industry website viewed 22/1/18 2 https://www.asianaviation.com/articles/944/Liebherr-Aerospace-is-a-leading-supplier-of-systems-for-the-aviation-industry 3 https://europa.eu/youreurope/business/environment/energy-labels/index_en.htm

Are online retailers breaking EU energy labelling rules?As part of the research for these guides, Ethical Consumer has looked at the shocking state of online energy labelling.

Online sales now account for 53.5% of money spent on major domestic appliances. Since 1995, appliance retailers have been required by EU law to display the EU energy label which we are now all familiar with. From 2015, this requirement was extended to online retailers after complaints from some groups, including Ethical Consumer. Online sellers must now show either full energy labels, or a ‘nested arrow’ with just their rating (e.g. ‘A+’), which, when clicked on, takes you to the full label.

However, it only takes five minutes on the internet to start wondering where all the labels are.

When Ethical Consumer looked at the seven largest online retailers for electrical appliances between 19th and 22nd January 2018 – Currys, Argos, Amazon, John Lewis, Euronics, Hughes Electrics and AO.com – it found that none of them appeared to be

consistently complying with EU rules.

Amazon, Hughes Electrical and Argos all listed products for which neither energy label nor ‘nested arrow’ could be found. No energy labels were found at all on the Hughes Electrical website, though it did have its own comparisons for energy costs.

Examples were found on all seven websites,

in which a product was displayed with an energy rating, but no energy label. Rules were flouted particularly frequently in the cases of cookers and fridges.

Where Amazon did provide an energy label, in product images, these were sometimes found to have been reformatted. Important information like actual energy consumption and water use was lost, despite stipulations that labels must not be modified by retailers. Instances were also found in which Amazon provided two different figures for the ‘energy usage’ of a product.

It seems that this is a long-running issue. In 2016, MarketWatch found that only a quarter of white goods sold online in the UK were correctly labelled. Half had no energy information at all.

Energy labels are often not displayed on the manufacturers’ websites since they are only a legal obligation at the point of sale. This is why it is important for retailers to make sure they give consumers the facts. This situation is clearly not acceptable. Online sellers need to be clearly showing all the energy efficiency information that bricks-and-mortar sellers are required to show.

The rules on online labelling need to be enforced but resources for consumer protection bodies have been cut both nationally (Consumer Direct closed in 2012) and locally (Trading Standards Offices).

Only buying from sites where labels are properly displayed is another way to campaign for change. Amazon and Hughes Electrical appeared to be the worst offenders.

A fully referenced version of this article will appear on our website.

Investor (AEG, Zanussi, Electrolux), Philips, Samsung, Daewoo, and Newell Brands (Breville) were all deducted a half mark for their involvement in the armaments industry.

Conflict minerals

With most domestic appliances having electronic elements these days, Ethical Consumer expects all companies in this sector to have a policy on the sourcing of the conflict minerals (tantalum, tin, tungsten and gold) which are key components of electronic devices.

Companies with inadequate or non-existent policies were marked down for unsustainable mining (Habitats & Resources column on the score table) and human rights abuses (Human Rights column).

Most of the 42 companies in these guides scored a worst rating in this category – only six companies did not. See the individual guides for how the companies rated in each sector.

Conflict minerals are minerals mined in conditions of armed conflict and human rights abuses, notably in the eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The revenue from the illegal mining and trading of these minerals has been exploited to fund armed conflict, and serious human rights abuses are connected to those conflicts and to the mines for certain ores.

Toxic chemicals

We have rated all the companies in these guides on the use of three toxic chemicals commonly used in electrical equipment – brominated flame retardants, PVC and phthalates.

Most of the companies in these guides did not have a policy on the use of these chemicals – only four companies did. See the individual guides for how the companies rated in each sector.

What to do with your old appliancesAt the end of their useful life, domestic appliances or indeed any other Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) must be recycled rather than being put in the household rubbish bin and sent to a landfill site. This is an EU law that came into force in 2007.

All retailers, whether they sell direct or by internet, mail order or telephone, must help customers recycle white goods and home appliances by either paying towards recycling facilities at a council site or by offering a free, instore takeback service.

Usually the free instore disposal is only if you are buying a new, equivalent appliance. But Currys PC World will recycle for free any electricals or electronics you no longer want, without buying anything new, and whether you bought them from Currys or someone else. Just take them into your local store. (Currys PC World is owned by Dixons Carphone which appears in the Cookers guide on page 26).

Often shops will collect your unwanted electrical item when they deliver a new one but many of them charge for this service (£15 – £25).

Your council may offer a household recycling collection. This may be free or there may be a charge. If not, go to your local recycling centre. You can find your nearest one on www.recyclenow.com.

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ProductGUIDE

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FridgesMARCH/APRIL 2018 ethicalconsumer.org

ProductGUIDE

Taking a long look into the fridgeJosie Wexler examines what you need to know to buy a new fridge, and how best to use the one you have.

High-profile future-fridge talk is currently all about ‘smart’ fridges, which will use their little fridge

brains to order more margarine for you when you’re getting low. Such things are coming, but they aren’t here yet.

However, while the changes that fridges have actually undergone may be more mundane-sounding than this, they are very important.

On the energy efficiency front, fridges and freezers have seen dramatic progress over the past 20 years. An average 2013 fridge has half the lifecycle energy footprint of a comparative one bought in 2000.1 Some of the effect has been cancelled out by the fact that our fridges are getting bigger and more people have started to buy two. However, even taking that into account, the total amount of energy they are using has been falling.2

There has also been major progress on HFCs – the fearfully powerful greenhouse gases sometimes used as refrigerants.

This guide will look at how to choose the most environmentally friendly fridge and freezer, whether it is a good idea environmentally to replace old ones, and how best to use your fridge to avoid food waste.

HFCs – the mother of all greenhouse gasesHFCs initially took over as the refrigerant of choice when CFCs were banned under the Montreal Protocol in 1987, having been discovered to be the culprit behind the ozone hole. The problem with HFCs is that they are greenhouse gases hundreds or thousands of times more powerful than CO

2.

HFCs have basically been banned in new domestic fridges and freezers in the EU since 2015, so you no longer have to worry about buying a fridge that contains them.

They are not, however, gone from the EU altogether. They are still allowed for commercial refrigeration, as well as for some other applications like air conditioners and insulating foam. They are being phased out, but in many cases desperately slowly.3 The original text of the EU’s legislation included a straight ban on HFCs in commercial and industrial refrigeration, as in the domestic sector, but it was watered down following a mammoth industry lobbying effort.4

HFCs outside the EU

Outside the EU, things are also moving, albeit more slowly still. In October 2016, over 170 countries signed an amendment to the Montreal Protocol promising to cut the production and trade of HFCs by 85% between 2019 and 2036. It was signed in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda.5

Even the US is party to it. In the US, almost all new fridges contain HFCs as, not only are they still allowed there, but spurious fire safety regulations have made

it almost impossible to use alternatives (climate-friendly refrigerants are made of substances such as propane or isobutene, which could theoretically be a fire risk but, as long as the fridge is decently made, it is a non-issue). In the wake of Kigali, these fire rules are now finally being scrapped, opening the door to climate-friendly fridges in the US too.6

There have been fears that Trump would pull the US out of the Kigali agreement. But so far it seems to be the one climate regulation that he supports, probably because it has the strong backing of the industry.

That may seem strange given how much effort companies put into weakening regulations in the EU, but the industry’s position is complex. Companies have now spent millions developing alternatives to HFCs. However they feel about stricter regulation, Kigali gave them regulation on their own terms – indeed, it was a very industry-controlled affair.7 With this one, they are on board.

“An average 2013 fridge has half the lifecycle energy footprint of a comparative one bought in 2000.”

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ProductGUIDE

Energy efficiencyAll fridges must have European energy efficiency labels that give a rating from D to A+++ and a figure for total energy use. Any fridge put on the market after 2012 must legally have a rating of at least A+, and that is now by far the most common rating. But retailers are still allowed to sell off old stock with ratings below that.

The meaning of the categories, and a typical amount of electricity that a medium-sized fridge-freezer is likely to use is shown above right.8

The median total yearly household electricity use in the UK is 3100 kWh,9 so the difference between the A+ rated fridge-freezer and the A+++ one is about 5% of an average household’s total electricity use. The difference between the C rated one and the A+++ rated one is a full 20%.

This labelling system is due to change over the next few years. Many people have complained that the multiple pluses are confusing, and the EU commission has agreed to revert back to an A to G system, with new categories.10

How to get a fridge that won’t suck too much

The efficiency rating will not tell you how much energy your appliance will actually use. ‘Efficiency’ just refers to the energy used per litre capacity and per feature (it is affected by whether the fridge has a freezer compartment, for example). It is thus vitally important to look at the total energy use figure as well.

All but eight of the companies now do at least one A+++ rated fridge and freezer model, but there are two in particular who do a lot of super-efficient ones: Liebherr and Gorenje. We gave these two companies an extra mark in acknowledgement of them being leaders in the field.

The brands for which we couldn’t find any A+++ rated ones at all in January 2018 were Swan, Norfrost (Ebac), Russell Hobbs (HRG Group), Servis (Zorlu), John Lewis, Logik and Essentials (Dixons), Kenmore (Sears), and Aga (the Middleby Corp). These should be considered brands to avoid. We also recommend avoiding Whirlpool, as it has disgracefully refused to recall appliances that are a fire risk (not fridges or freezers).11

When to replace your fridge or freezerThe average freezer has a life of about 17 years and a fridge about 13 years, although some last much longer.12 They tend to be replaced when they die – few people are interested in getting a new fridge for the sheer toe-tingling excitement of it.

However, in this instance, there is actually an environmental, and financial, case for replacing early.

Because fridges and freezers are on all the time, the vast bulk of their life-

Energy label rating A+++ A++ A+ A B C

Percentage of energy used* <22% 22-32% 33-41% 42-54% 55-74% 75-95%

kWh/year used by typical fridge-freezer of medium size

175 250 339 408 612 816

* Based on the average amount of energy used in 1994, when the system was designed.

“Because fridges and freezers are on all the time, the vast bulk of their life-cycle energy – in the region of 90% – is expended in use.”

cycle energy – in the region of 90% – is expended in use.13 And, as described above, they have been getting hugely more energy efficient. Obviously, energy is not all that matters – there are materials too. However, most materials in fridges are recycled.14

It is also worth being aware that many old fridges and freezers can develop faults and start consuming substantially more energy than they should.15 You can find out how much your old fridge or freezer is actually using with a plug-in energy-usage meter.

But get one that will last

The fact that there is a case for replacement now doesn’t mean that you should buy a trashy fridge that will conk out in a few years because you’ll want to replace it quickly anyway. Energy efficiency is not expected to keep improving at the same rate. As one review said: “Today’s cold appliances are technologically mature and further dramatic improvements are not expected in the short to medium term.”16

Basically, it seems that flighty fridge relationships were great in the past, but now is looking like a good time to choose your long-term fridge partner.

Energy used by typical medium-sized fridge-freezers with different energy labels

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ProductGUIDE

Environment Animals People Politics +ve

BRAND COMPANY GROUP

Gorenje [E] 10 h H H H h H 1 Gorenje Group

White Knight 9.5 H H H H h Crosslee Holdings

Belling, New World 9 H H H H H Glen Dimplex Group

LEC, Brittania 9 H H H H H Glen Dimplex Group

LG 9 h H H H h h h LG Corp

Miele 9 h H H H h H Miele family

Norfrost 9 H H H H H Ebac

Smeg 9 H H H H H Smeg S.p.A

Swan 9 H H H H H Swan Products ltd

Candy, Baumatic 8.5 H H H H H h Candy S.p.A

Hoover 8.5 H H H H H h Candy S.p.A

Daewoo 8 H H H H h H h Dongbu Group

Essentials, Logik 8 h H H h H H H Dixons Carphone Plc

Haier, Fisher & Paykel, GE 8 H H H H H H Haier Group

Kenwood 8 H H H H H H De’Longhi Industrial SA

Liebherr [E] 8 H H H H H H H 1 Liebherr-International AG

Aga 6.5 H H H h H h H h H The Middleby Corporation

Servis 6.5 H H H H H h H H Zorlu Holdings A.S.

AEG 6 h H H H H H h H H Investor AB

Beko 6 h H H H H H H h H Koç Holding A.S.

Electrolux, Frigidaire 6 h H H H H H h H H Investor AB

Blomberg, Flavel 6 h H H H H H H h H Koç Holding A.S.

Grundig 6 h H H H H H H h H Koç Holding A.S.

Zanussi 6 h H H H H H h H H Investor AB

Panasonic 5.5 h h H h H H H H h h H Panasonic Corporation

Samsung 5.5 h h H H H h h h H H H Samsung Group

Hotpoint 5 H H H H H H H H H Whirlpool Corporation

Indesit, Amana 5 H H H H H H H H H Whirlpool Corporation

IKEA 5 h h H H H H H h h H H Stichting INGKA Foundation

Jenn-Air, KitchenAid, Maytag 5 H H H H H H H H H Whirlpool Corporation

Whirlpool 5 H H H H H H H H H Whirlpool Corporation

John Lewis 4.5 h h H H h H H H H H h H E John Lewis Partnership Trust

Kenmore 4.5 H H H H H H H h H H Sears

Bosch, NEFF 4 H H H H h H H h H H H Robert Bosch Stiftung GMBH

Russell Hobbs 4 h H H H H H H H h H H HRG Group Inc.

Siemens 3 H H H h H H h h h H H H H Siemens AG/Robert Bosch

Bush 2 h H H H h h H H H H h H H h h J Sainsbury Plc

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USING THE TABLESPositive ratings (+ve):

• Company Ethos:

e = full mark,

E = half mark.

• Product Sustainability: Maximum of five positive marks.

See all the research behind these ratings on www.ethicalconsumer.org. For definitions of all the categories go to www.ethicalconsumer.org/subscriberarea

[E] = majority of models are A+++

USING THE TABLESEthiscore: the higher the score, the better the company across the criticism categories.

H = worst rating,

h = middle rating, empty = best rating (no criticisms).

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ProductGUIDE

A+++ rated models from Miele are our Best Buys as the company is the only

one to sell these and to meet our minimum

standard of at least a middle rating for Supply Chain Management. They are, however, quite expensive.

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Table highlights

Conflict minerals

Most of the companies did not have any kind of publicly available conflict mineral policy, and were thus given a worst rating for conflict minerals. The only exceptions were LG and HRG (Russell Hobbs), which got a best, and Panasonic, Samsung and Siemens, which got a middle.

Toxic chemicals

Similarly, most companies lacked any real discussion of toxics like PVC and BFRs. They all got a worst rating apart from Samsung which got a best rating.

Tax avoidance

There was a much wider spread on ratings for likely use of tax avoidance strategies. The companies that didn’t get a worst were rated as follows:Best: Ebac(Norfrost), Liebherr, Glen Dimplex (Belling, Britannia, LEC, New World), Zorlu (Servis), Swan, Crosslee (White Knight), Gorenje, Dongbu (Daewoo), SmegMiddle: Miele, Candy (Hoover, Baumatic), Investor AB (AEG, Electrolux, Frigidaire, Zanussi), Sears (Kenmore), Haier (Fisher & Paykel, GE), LG

Also recommended are A+++ rated models from Gorenje, Belling, Britannia, LEC and New World (Glen Dimplex) which between them, have a wider range of prices and models.

Swan, White Knight (Crosslee) and Norfrost (Ebac) all came higher up the table than these, but are not recommended buys as they do not do any A+++ rated models.

RECOMMENDED

The Whirlpool Corporation has been the focus of serious concern over its failure to recall faulty tumble dryers which have caused fires in the UK. (See the Whirlpool profile on page 25 for more details.)

BRANDS TO AVOID

Fridges and freezers vary hugely in price. The average price paid for a fridge-freezer is £341, but you can easily pay well over £1,000.17

It is hard to make price comparisons between fridge or freezers because there are so many different models with different capacities and features. However, to get some very loose guidance on what kind of money you can expect to pay for extra energy efficiency, we looked for a

couple of the cheapest A+++ rated fridges on the Currys website, and the cheapest A+ rated ones of a roughly similar size.

In this tiny sample the super energy efficient ones and the less energy efficient ones will cost about the same – give or take a bit – over their full lifetime, including the purchase price.

The story is very different if you are replacing older, much more inefficient fridges and freezers. In that case, replacing can easily save you hundreds of pounds.

Energy efficient fridges and freezers do not always cost more. The reason that A+++ ones currently tend to be more expensive is largely that they aren’t yet being produced in sufficient quantities. So buying them is also helping to make them cheaper for other people.

Paying for greater efficiency

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Energy Rating

Model Size (litres) PricekWh per year

Cost to run per year*

Total lifetime cost**

A+++

LG gbb60pzgfb

Fridge: 250 Freezer: 93

£599.99 178 £24.92 £923.95

Hotpoint nffud

Fridge: 302 Freezer: 148

£599 175 £24.50 £917.50

A+

Beko cxfg1685tw

Fridge: 266 Freezer: 90

£269.99 345 £48.30 £897.89

Kenwood ksbsx17

Fridge: 335 Freezer: 167

£399 401 £56.14 £1,128.82

* Assuming UK average electricity cost of 14p/kWh)18

** Including purchase price assuming 13-year lifespan

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