A.L.F. Uno: circularity never goes out of style

Together for the treatment of painting waste in the furniture sector

The furniture manufacturers of the Piovesana family entrust their most difficult waste to Recycla (Gruppo Herambiente), a choice that has allowed them to achieve 97% recovery, as well as ensuring full regulatory compliance and the highest safety standards.

The design of a wardrobe may go out of style, so Alf designs one that follows market's trend. And the same goes for a bed or a bookcase. What never goes out of fashion in the Piovesana family's furniture group is their commitment to safety and sustainability. This sustainability is also measured by the responsible management of waste from production, which has led the recovery rate to reach an impressive 97%, with a 4 percentage point increase over the past 3 years alone. It is this commitment to the environment, extending beyond mere regulatory requirements, that led the company to partner with Recycla (a company owned by Herambiente, which is part of the Hera Group) for the management of the company's more challenging waste. This includes often hazardous waste that would typically be destined for disposal, such as solvent based paint or putty, sludge, oil sludge, and residues from the cleaning stages of the painting process.

Thanks to the partnership with Recycla, these materials, after proper treatment, are transformed into industrial fuel, an energy source that powers so called hard to abate sectors – industries with high energy demands where, due to technical constraints, replacing fossil fuels (typically methane gas) with alternative fuels such as hydrogen or through electrification is more challenging. In these cases, Recycla's industrial fuel, by avoiding the use of fossil fuels, ensures a significant saving in terms of natural resources. However, supporting this circular economy process, which begins at the Alf factories in Francenigo and Cordignano (Treviso), requires very rigorous waste management from the production phase, through to storage and the subsequent logistics chain. For this reason, Alf has relied on Recycla's Ecol360gradi service, a turnkey waste management programme that provides, in addition to operational support in the field, also punctual compliance with complex environmental regulations.