Company Name: Karcher

Project Name: Kärcher High Pressure Washer K 7 Premium Smart Control

Award Category: Innovation Sustainable Product

Product / Service Introduction

Environmental friendliness and climate protection are a fundamental part of our actions. For years now, we have been continuously setting ourselves new targets to systematically make our company more efficient and resource-conserving and to fulfil our role as a social stakeholder. With our targets for 2025, we are now taking the next step towards the future.  Take K 7 Premium Smart Control as an example.

In 2023, K 7 Premium Smart Control was successfully introduced to the Chinese. The patented nozzle technology of the Kärcher High Pressure Washer K 7 Premium Smart Control saves approximately 80% of water resources compared to using a normal hose, up to 3,100 liters of water per hour. Noise emissions are also a pollution that should be reduced, and the Kärcher High Pressure Washer K 7 Premium Smart Control is able to effectively reduce noise by 50% through the use of innovative materials and design. Kärcher was also one of the first companies to bring Domo's "Technyl@4earth Technology" to the end consumer market in series production, and the K 7's gun, made from used airbags, significantly reduces CO2 emissions, water consumption and the use of non-renewable energy sources while safeguarding performance. In addition, the eco!perform cleaner used in the Kärcher High Pressure Washer K 7 Premium Smart Control completely eliminates materials that are harmful to the environment and human health, and is made with 100% fully biodegradable surfactants. Compared to similar products, eco!perform can be used in 50% fewer doses for the same cleaning effect.

Explanation of Circular Economy Practice 

Sustainable, people-oriented company development is the central focus of our activities. We want to promote values – for our customers, our employees and the company. The reason behind this is our clear commitment to our social responsibility to be a good corporate citizen. And we take this responsibility extremely seriously in all areas of the company. Based on the brand claim, we have coined the motto "Be the difference" for our sustainability communication. This is because we want to make the difference – and be the benchmark in our industry. To achieve that, we have defined clear targets: Since 2021 our global production is CO₂-neutral on balance sheet. Until 2025 we will reduce our complete CO₂ footprint by 21 percent, followed by another 21 percent until 2030. In our products and product packaging, we are increasingly focusing on reducing plastic and utilising sustainable raw materials. We are making sustainability an integral part of the entire supply chain. We were awarded the German Sustainability Award 2022 for this commitment. In its statement, the jury particularly praised the "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" initiative - one of 3 pillars of our current sustainability strategy.

Since 2014, we have been recording the implementation of our sustainability targets consistently, uniformly and completely digitally at all production and logistics sites worldwide. This is how we evaluate CO₂ emissions, water and energy consumption, for instance, and analyse the developments in the area of packaging materials. We also monitor the requirements of environmental legislation and standards, such as the ISO 14001 standard, in a standardised and fully digital manner. Overall, we consequently adhere to over 10,000 regulations and obligations.

K 7 Premium Smart Control uses recycled plastic for the body shell and gun handle. The recycled material used is extracted from fabric in returned airbags and material left over from their production process.  During production and transportation, the K 7's components are being packed in multi-use boxes instead of in foil for transportation, which saves near 100 kg of foil each year. Also in terms of outer packaging,  We replaced disposable packaging materials made from primary plastics with plastics made from recycled materials. We are also replacing non-recyclable packaging with alternatives - the packaging inlay of our K 7 hard floor cleaner, for example, is made from pulp, a type of paper maché, instead of styrofoam.

K 7's production plants, located throughout Europe, are carbon neutral. We use green energy and compensate for emissions that we cannot avoid by funding climate protection projects. Many of our factories are already equipped with LED lighting and photovoltaic systems. In Banbury, United Kingdom, we succeeded in installing just under 1,000 solar panels at once and therefore generating 44% of the subsidiary's annual power consumption by means of the solar system. At our headquarters in Winnenden, we also use a photovoltaic system and close the material cycle by repurposing single-use pallets in a heating system for the buildings.

Overview of Product/Service Lifecycle

Product Design:

Kärcher, as a global leader in the cleaning industry, has always been committed to leading the industry with innovation. Sustainable industrial design and resource use is one of the key criteria in our product design, and this criterion is applied throughout the product development process of the K 7 Premium Smart Control. Kärcher's sustainable design standards ensure that sustainability is taken into account in all aspects of product development and design. Box: sustainable recycled paper; Material: recycled plastic pellets; Exterior: cleaner, more recognizable design.

Production:

During production and transportation, the K 7's components are being packed in multi-use boxes instead of in foil for transportation, which saves near 100 kg of foil each year. K 7's production plants, located throughout Europe, are carbon neutral. We use green energy and compensate for emissions that we cannot avoid by funding climate protection projects. Many of our factories are already equipped with LED lighting and photovoltaic systems. 

Useage:

The patented nozzle technology of K 7 Premium Smart Control saves approximately 80% of water resources compared to using a normal hose, up to 3,100 liters of water per hour. K 7 Premium Smart Control is able to effectively reduce noise by 50% through the use of innovative materials and design. In addition, the eco!perform cleaner used in K 7 Premium Smart Control are harmful to the environment and human health, and is made with 100% fully biodegradable surfactants. Compared to similar products, eco!perform can be used in 50% fewer doses for the same cleaning effect.

Recycling and Recovery:

K 7's gun, made from used airbags, significantly reduces CO2 emissions, water consumption and the use of non-renewable energy sources while safeguarding performance. We are also replacing non-recyclable packaging with alternatives - the packaging inlay of our K 7 hard floor cleaner, for example, is made from pulp, a type of paper maché, instead of styrofoam.

More Product / Service Highlights (Optional) 

The K 7 Premium Smart Control, a competitive product in terms of intelligence, versatility, performance and durability, is especially suitable for yard and villa cleaning.The K 7 is equipped with an LCD visual adjustable smart handle, which allows you to easily control different pressure levels and foam concentration directly through the +/- buttons on the handle, and customize professional cleaning solutions for different scenarios to achieve a fine-grained cleaning. Cleaning. The display remains visible even in bright outdoor light, and the K 7 is equipped with the patented 3-nozzle gun technology, which combines a fan nozzle, a rotating nozzle, and a foam nozzle in one unit, allowing you to switch between cleaning modes by simply rotating the gun, without having to replace the gun barrel. The up to 75mm width of the machine's flushing water stream can help save up to 50% of energy consumption and water and reap more efficient cleaning results compared to similar products. The rotating nozzle's water flow speed reaches up to 3000-4000r/min, resulting in a tornado style spiral water flow abrasive cleaning effect and a 50% increase in water jet pressure, which instantly removes stubborn stains cleanly. In the face of ultra-stubborn stains, the K 7 can activate the instantaneous pressurization function, on the basis of the peak pressure of 180bar, an explosive pressure increase of 15bar, instantly boosting the pressure to 195bar ultra-high-pressure force, 30 seconds of sustained strong high-pressure rinsing, decontamination is more relaxed.