Osborne And The Environment

Manufacturing With A Conscience

Osborne Refrigerators have a long history of manufacturing with an environmental conscience. We have always used polystyrene insulation which is efficient and recyclable. Unlike foam insulation, it is not blown using ozone damaging CFC gases, a practice that is still going on with some Far East manufacturers. Each refrigerator we produce is designed so that it can be easily recycled at the eventual end of it’s life. We also design for a long life - some of the oldest refrigerators still working around the world are Osborne refrigerators. We were the first British manufacturer to move our entire production away from CFC based refrigerants and we now use R600a, a refrigerant with zero ozone depletion (ODP) and low global warming potential (GWP), across our whole range. Our R&D Department are constantly looking at the latest technologies available for the refrigeration, the insulation and other components such as lighting.

You can download our Environmental Policy here

British Designed & Built

Lots of companies claim to be British and many of them may indeed still design and distribute in the UK. Osborne Refrigerators still manufacture exclusively in the UK because we believe it is the socially and environmentally responsible thing to do. By maintaining our manufacturing in modern and efficient facilities here in the UK, we avoid the environmental damage caused by inefficient third world factories and the pollution caused by shipping products in from thousands of miles away. Think how much CO₂ is produced shipping a refrigerator all the way from China. It's wasting energy before you even turn it on.

Shrinking Your Carbon Footprint - New Energy Efficient Specifications

As part of our ongoing programme of product development, we introduced changes to the specifications of all our refrigerators, changes designed to lower energy consumption so that you can reduce your carbon footprint and save money on your energy bills. The biggest changes were to our traditional range of undercounter refrigerators. The new eCold range featured a host of improvements that practically halved energy consumption with no loss in performance.
These include:

LED lighting. This is doubly efficient. Firstly, it uses much less energy than traditional flourescent tubes to produce the same level of lighting. Secondly, it produces virtually no heat which removes an extra workload from the refrigeration system.

Low voltage, high efficiency fans. These use less power than those previously fitted and, like the LEDs, produce virtually no waste heat.

Improved insulation and redesigned doors. Cuts down heat transfer from the ambient surroundings and from the cabinet's own refrigeration system.

Maintenance-free condenser system. This offers the best of both worlds; fan assisted air circulation which provides cooling for both the condenser and the compressor and a condenser that never requires cleaning.

Wherever possible, these new features have also been rolled out throughout our wider range of cabinets, ensuring that all Osborne cabinets are as energy-efficient as possible.

Shrinking Our Own Carbon Footprint

In addition to limiting the impact our products have on the environment, we have worked hard to limit the impact of production itself. Our West Sussex factory is a modern, efficient manufacturing facility and our new offices need cutting the lighting usage alone by some 80%. We also maintain over 100 acres of West Sussex woodland which more than offsets all our CO₂ emissions from both manufacturing and distribution.

EcoDesign & Energy Labelling

From 1st September 2020, as well as the energy efficiency and labelling requirements for new products, "refrigerating appliances with a direct sales function" (basically all glass door and open fronted retail refrigerators, as well as glass door beverage cabinets) will also have to comply with various functional, repair and end-of-life requirements. These include:

Manufacturers have to ensure that components such as thermostats and sensors, among others, "can be identified and removed with non-proprietary and commonly available tools" and that "no gluing or welding fastening technique is encountered for any of the dismantling operations leading to the removal of these components."
All those parts will be kept available "for at least 6 years after the production of the specific model has ceased"
Door gaskets and, where present, lighting should also be "replaceable without special tools and without permanent damage" and available "for at least 6 years after the production of the specific model has ceased"

We are pleased to say that, not only do all our refrigerators already comply with these requirements, they always have.

On July 1st 2016 "professional refrigerated storage cabinets" came under the Europe-wide Ecodesign Directive. This sets out to improve the efficiency of products and, through the associated labelling (for example the A-G labels on domestic fridges, washing machines etc), help consumers reduce their energy usage and costs. It also sets Minimum Energy Performance (MEP) levels for these products and any product with an efficiency rating lower than G can no longer be sold within the EU. The term "professional" applies to most solid door refrigerators and freezers, although there are a few exceptions including static cooled cabinets and pass-through cabinets. Because of our constant work to offer the most energy efficient cabinets we can, Osborne Refrigerators are proud to say that many of our popular models are already A or B rated. Relevant labels can be found in the Download section.

Green Reasons To Buy An Osborne Cabinet

All Osborne cabinets can be recycled by us at the end of their life

All packaging used is recyclable

All insulation is environmentally friendy polystyrene (recyclable)

All cabinets are designed for maximum energy efficiency without compromising cooling performance

All Osborne cabinets are manufactured in the UK which means no environmental pollution from ships to bring them in from the Far East