The Quooker tap was invented to benefit both our daily lives and the environment. Easy for people and good for the planet: this is the essence of our corporate philosophy.
We create sustainable products and do this in a responsible way. And we go beyond that. We are also committed to improving working conditions within the chain. We contribute to the energy transition and take action against climate change. We strive to alleviate the scarcity of drinking water and resources in various parts of the world. In all these ways, we contribute to a more sustainable future.
Sustainable Development Goals
In our Quooker sustainability strategy, we contribute specifically to four of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) established by the United Nations.
At Quooker, we prioritise five key areas where we believe our efforts can significantly contribute to sustainability. Explore further below.
1. Clean water and sanitation
2. Decent work and economic growth
3. Responsible consumption and production
4. Climate action
1. Energy Saving
''Quooker strives to reduce the demand for energy by creating an energy-efficient source of boiling, hot, sparkling and chilled water''
The rapid pace of global warming is forcing us to move away from fossil fuels and towards renewable sources of energy. If we really want to make a difference, we must reduce energy consumption worldwide: it is as simple as that. Quooker strives to achieve this goal by supplying millions of households with an energy-efficient source of boiling, hot, sparkling and chilled water.
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With a Quooker system, you have instant boiling water (100°C) at your fingertips. This may sound like a luxury, but choosing a Quooker is a highly sustainable choice as well. That is because a Quooker uses very little energy due to the extremely effective insulation around the tank in which the boiling water is stored. Thanks to this high-vacuum insulation with shielding foil, in fact, it takes only 10 watts – less than two LED bulbs – to store water at a temperature above the boiling point. The more often you use hot and boiling water, the more energy you save with the Quooker system as compared to the alternatives. This usage can really add up during the course of a day, starting in the morning when you brew a cup of tea and boil an egg, to blanching vegetables and boiling potatoes in the evening. A COMBI tank makes it possible to conserve even more energy. This tank supplies not only boiling water but hot water as well. That means you never again have to wait until the water heats up. It is instantly hot. A European regulation on kitchen water heaters has been in effect since September 2015. In the category of smaller electric water-heaters with a storage tank (intended for kitchen use), the Quooker COMBI is the highest-scoring kitchen water heater with a boiling water function. As a result, this tank has been awarded an ‘A’ energy label.
Besides boiling water tanks, Quooker also offers a chilled water tank: the CUBE. With a CUBE, you can dispense sparkling and chilled water directly from your tap. Choosing a CUBE is a responsible and sustainable choice. It eliminates the need for plastic bottles (which you would also have to chill in the refrigerator). Instead, you can rely on an extremely energy-efficient chilled water tank in your kitchen cupboard and reusable carbon dioxide cylinders.
Our operations
At Quooker, care for people and the environment is part of our DNA. That care influences each decision we make. At our headquarters in Ridderkerk, for instance, we have hundreds of solar panels on the roof of our building, that supply a large portion of the energy needed for our production process. We supplement this by purchasing exclusively ‘green’ renewable energy. Once working hours have ended, we switch the systems in our offices, factory halls and equipment to ‘night mode’. This way, we minimize our energy consumption. The light goes off automatically when no one is in a room.
2. Drinking Water Conservation & Availability
''Quooker helps households conserve water and enables access to clean and safe drinking water''
A Quooker helps you to conserve water every day. You never dispense more than the desired quantity of boiling water, not a single drop is lost. This is important because clean drinking water is vitally important and an uninterrupted supply should never be taken for granted. All around the world, summers are becoming drier and drier. Water shortages no longer only occur in developing countries. Here, too, the government is increasingly urging citizens to conserve the available drinking water. Quooker is committed to achieving a better distribution of drinking water around the globe. We are doing this by delivering water-efficient products in countries where drinking water is plentiful – and by working to improve access to clean drinking water in countries where the supply is limited.
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Unnecessary wasting of water is commonplace in many kitchens. Sometimes a little is wasted, for instance when you boil twice as much water as you need. Sometimes there is major waste, such as when you turn on the tap and wait for the water to heat up – while litres and litres of clean drinking water go down the drain. A Quooker tap offers an instant fix to both. You always dispense
exactly the amount of water you need and never have to wait for hot water again. Besides boiling water tanks, we also offer a chilled water tank: the CUBE. With a CUBE, you can dispense chilled and sparkling water directly from your tap. This makes the production of plastic water bottles (a process which itself uses many litres of water) obsolete.
Our operations
At Quooker, our water conservation efforts are not limited to the products we make. Avoiding water waste is second nature in everything we do. For instance, we’re taking water conservation into account in the design of our new headquarters, which will be built in 2025. Here, we intend to capture rainwater for a variety of purposes, such as flushing the toilets and watering the plants. The calculations for these plans are currently being worked out by external parties.
Social engagement
At Quooker, we think it’s important to exert a positive influence on the availability of drinking water around the world. On World Water Day in 2016, Quooker launched the ‘litre for a litre’ campaign. For every litre water conserved by using Quooker systems worldwide, we provide one litre of clean drinking water in countries with a limited supply of drinking water. When you consider that a COMBI or COMBI + tank saves an average of 4.200L per year and a PRO3 tank saves 500L, you see how it adds up quickly. It is no surprise that we have already reached our goal of 100 million litres of clean drinking water for people in Garamba Bata. Yet the problem of water is huge. Which is why Quooker has decided to continue our joint campaign with Made Blue. To date, we have donated over 2 billion litres of water.
3. Climate Neutral
''Quooker is committed to becoming climate neutral throughout our value chain by investing in sustainable, innovative solutions''
Global warming is largely the result of human action and is mostly due to the burning of fossil fuels and the CO₂ that is released in the process. Since the Industrial Revolution, the planet has become 1.1 °C warmer and the ecosystem has shifted further out of balance. We must turn the tide, that much is clear. But how? Quooker is aware of its responsibility and strives to ensure that its own facilities at least are fully carbon neutral by 2028.
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By using the Quooker COMBI, the average Dutch household will save around 500 kWh per year. This is equivalent to around 225 kg CO₂: about the same amount of CO₂ that is emitted by driving 1300 km in the average car powered by fossil fuels.
Do you use renewable energy or electricity generated by solar panels? If so, no CO₂ is generated when you use your Quooker system.
Besides our boiling water tanks, we also offer a chilled water tank: the CUBE. With a CUBE, you can dispense sparkling and chilled water directly from your Quooker tap. The CUBE makes it possible to drink water from the tap rather than bottled water. The result? Less road transport and a reduction in CO₂ emissions.
Our operations
Each time we create a new product, we conduct a life-cycle analysis (LCA) as part of the design phase. This provides insight into the environmental impact of that product. Sometimes, our designers adjust certain aspects of the product based on the LCA. We do everything we can to minimise the carbon footprint of our production locations as well. Our goal is to ensure our own facilities are fully carbon neutral by 2028. This means we will be gas-free and will use only renewable energy or ‘green’ electricity. That applies to our transportation as well: in 2028, we want our fleet of company cars to be 100% electric. From now until 2028, we will take measures to offset our CO₂ emissions. The new headquarters, on which we will break ground in 2024, will be a fully carbon-neutral structure. Because we make a conscious effort to practice sustainability in our operations, we are selective about the partners with whom we do business. We ‘vet’ new potential partners carefully to see whether they take an efficient and responsible approach to their own production process. We do everything we can to arrange our logistical process in a way that avoids unnecessary carbon emissions.
4. Longevity & Circularity
''Quooker develops high-quality products with a long lifespan created in a circular value chain''
In a circular economy, materials are reused whenever and wherever possible. Products are designed to last as long as possible and then to be reused or repaired. At Quooker, we believe that this is the economy of the future, which is why we accept our responsibility and strive to minimise our use of new raw materials.
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Our Research & Development department is constantly working to improve our products. As with everything we do, the focus here is on sustainability. How can we extend the lifespan of our products? What can we do to conserve materials and energy even more effectively? How can we further cut down on carbon emissions? We are introducing a growing number of circular products, such as the CO₂ cylinders for dispensing sparkling water from the CUBE. Empty cylinders can be shipped back to Quooker free of charge, where they are refilled and prepared for use. The same principle applies to Scale Control R, a descaling system that uses cartridges. These cartridges can also be returned to Quooker after use. Customers who want to have their Quooker tank replaced or serviced after the warranty has ended can take advantage of our SWAP service. Instead of a new tank, we will send a refurbished (and fully inspected) tank at a reduced price. The customer then sends the old tank back to us, so that we can reuse it in the SWAP programme. In this way, we use materials responsibly and generate the least possible amount of waste! Our products indirectly reduce the amount of waste created as well. Take the CUBE, for instance, which lets you dispense sparkling and chilled water directly from your tap. This encourages people to drink tap water rather than bottled water, thereby reducing the amount of plastic used. Quooker supports the Plastic Soup Foundation’s initiative in the fight against plastic waste.
Our operations
We limit the footprint of our Quooker systems in many ways, including through the use of high-quality materials and by ensuring a sustainable production process. But the way we deal with return and waste flows contributes as well. For example, Quooker has a Return & Recovery division that processes and recycles returned products in a sustainable way, in keeping with the provisions of the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE).
5. Care for People
''Quooker creates sustainable products with an attention to people’s well-being''
Social and ecological systems are closely interwoven with one another. The growing environmental issues, for example, are placing increasing pressure on alreadyvulnerable communities. Inequality and poverty are obstacles to tackling environmental problems. All of which is to say that the only way to achieve a sustainable world is to devote care and attention to people and society. With that in mind, Quooker is focusing not only on ecological sustainability (i.e., the environment) but on social sustainability (i.e., people) as well.
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Safety is an important concern for Quooker. We have designed our products in such a way that accidents involving boiling water are nearly impossible. The childproof push-push-turn knob, the non-solid (aerated) outflow of boiling water and the insulated spout all work together to minimise the risk of burns. What’s more, a Quooker tap cannot be accidentally knocked over, unlike a traditional kettle. In 2020, the Nederlandse Brandwonden Stichting (Dutch
Burns Foundation) conducted a study into the use of boiling-water taps and the risk of burns. This study concluded that replacing kettles with boiling-water taps appears to lower the risk of burn incidents. See the report from the study here.
Our operations
Quooker is a family company and our connection to society is one of the things we value most. Mental and physical health are important themes as well, which is why we devote a great deal of attention to the working environment. Not only are we committed to the well-being of our own employees, we also want to have a positive effect on the entire chain where possible. To that end, we visit our suppliers, but also our suppliers’ suppliers, to see whether the desired working conditions are being enforced. We also actively partner with sheltered workshops in order to offer people with obstacles to jobmarket participation a rewarding way to spend the day.