JLR’s New ESG Solution: Flat-Packable Washing Machines
JLR has launched a 'Creativity for Good' initiative as part of its Reimagine strategy to encourage positive change in communities worldwide.
This programme leverages JLR's expertise to address pressing social and environmental challenges through collaboration with charities and non-governmental organisations.
The initiative sees JLR partnering annually with an organisation facing obstacles to expanding its positive impact.
JLR employees dedicate a portion of their paid work time to help 'design out' challenges and deliver more sustainable, innovative solutions.
For the project’s pilot year in 2025, JLR has partnered with The Washing Machine Project, a grassroots social enterprise that hopes to remove the burden of handwashing clothes in remote locations.
JLR Chief Sustainability Officer, Andrea Debbane, says: “As part of our Reimagine strategy, we are rethinking the way our business can create value for customers and society.
“Sharing the skills and knowledge within our organisation to help tackle some of the world’s most challenging problems, alongside the organisations that understand them best, is one way we hope to make a lasting, positive, sustainable impact.
“By understanding the needs of remote communities and the obstacles that they face, The Washing Machine Project has created an innovation that will change the lives of so many people.
“We hope that coupling the investment through Creativity for Good with JLR’s innovative spirit can help extend the positive impact even further.”
Meet The Washing Machine Project
The Washing Machine Project is a grassroots social enterprise founded by former JLR employee Navjot Sawhney.
More than five billion people around the world hand wash their clothes which can be a strain both physically and for time.
This initiative also hopes to empower women and girls who bear a disproportionate burden of laundry responsibilities around the world.
In underserved communities, women and girls spend up to 20 hours each week hand washing clothes.
This restricts their ability to participate in the workforce – between 1900 and 1980, the introduction of washing machines in the USA helped to increase women’s economic activity by around 10%.
The project's 'Divya' machine is the world's first flat-packable washing machine and aims to alleviate the burden of handwashing clothes in remote locations.
It uses up to 50% less water and saves 75% of the time used to hand wash clothes.
Since 2019, the washing machine has supported more than 30,000 people across Uganda, South Africa, Republic of Congo, Ghana, India, Greece, Mexico and the USA.
How JLR will support the project
JLR and The Washing Machine Project aim to accelerate the creation of a second-generation machine for use in India.
The partners hope the new machine will have a reduced production cost and be easier to assemble, repair and distribute.
Its starting point was a hackathon that looked at the project’s challenges to scale up.
Those taking part learned more about the hurdles faced by social enterprise.
Navjot Sawhney, Founder of the Washing Machine Project, says: “Returning to JLR through the Creativity for Good initiative is such a personally exciting moment for me.
“It’s incredible to see the company that helped shape my career now collaborating with the entire The Washing Machine Project team, to share skills and expertise - helping us take that next step towards creating a product fit to impact 1,000,000 people by 2030.”
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