For the launch of the Dyson Airblade 9kJ, myclimate updated the carbon footprints of various hand drying methods and also analysed their overall environmental impact. A life cycle analysis also took the production, transport, use and disposal into account. The results are clear: cold-air drying, as used by Dyson, remains the most climate-friendly way to dry your hands.
Cold air drying is more climate and environmentally friendly than paper or fabric roller towels
The highest impact still results from the use of fresh fibre paper and fabric roller towels, and the lowest from the four Dyson Airblade cold air dryers. Electricity is the biggest contributor to overall emissions from cold air dryers, whilst with paper towels it is production process and with fabric towels the laundry during the use phase, as well as the production of the cloth itself. The four Dyson Airblade hand dryers have a significantly lower environmental impact than other hand drying options.
The new model stands out from the rest
The new Dyson Airblade 9kJ is currently the fastest and most energy efficient of the various cold hand dryers made by technology company Dyson. According to Dyson, in "max" mode, it dries hands in just 10 seconds, with little noise. The integrated HEPA-Filter removes up to 99.95 per cent of all particles, including bacteria and viruses, which makes it ideal for high-footfall pedestrian areas. It produces 85 per cent less CO2 than the disposable paper towels still widely used, and has up to 99 per cent lower operating costs (as used in Switzerland with two recycled paper towels per hand-drying).
Conclusion
Martin Lehmann, myclimate project study manager, summarises Dyson's devices as performing significantly better than other hand drying methods, both in terms of climate and environmental impact. Through its new 9kj model Dyson is also demonstrating that it is actively pursuing performance improvement in its product development and is constantly and successfully optimising the environmental impact of its appliances.
You can find more information on the partnership between myclimate and Dyson SA here.