18 Jun Meet the Experts: Paolo Falcioni from the home appliance industry in Europe

In the home appliance industry, promoting consumer safety and circularity is crucial. For Paolo Falcioni, Director General of APPLiA (Home Appliance Europe), circularity should be present from the manufacturing process, to the consumer use, and all the way to the recycling of the product.

According to Falcioni, home appliances can help contribute to the circular economy by enabling more people to adopt circular lifestyles. This requires selecting the right products, using them correctly and making sure that they are properly collected and dismantled after use. Moreover, consumer safety is a key priority for the home appliance industry. Promoting the use of brominated flame retardants and working with all the actors in the value chain can help ensure circularity and consumer safety.

APPLiA supports the use and management of flame retardants in home appliances as long as a full risk assessment of a given product is determined, from the level of hazardous materials to the level of exposure of the material. This full assessment helps to minimise the content of hazardous substances while not compromising on the importance of consumer safety.

“There is no compromise possible for consumer safety, which must come first,” said Paolo Falcioni.