Article from The Decorative Surfaces by COMPAC
COMPAC won the sustainability award at the KBIS fair, in recognition of its environmental commitment. It is no coincidence that the Spanish firm was given this award at the world’s top fair for bathroom and kitchen interior design. COMPAC has been setting the pace in terms of eco-sustainable practices for years.
Every day human activity has an impact on the environment, caused by both our daily personal routines at home and in the streets, and by the effects of our production system. The latter is present in almost all sectors, either through the direct use of a specific environment or its alteration, the use of natural resources, or the emission of CO2. However, every individual and entity has the choice of looking back and erasing their footprints to cover their trail or leaving their imprint for posterity.
The sectors of architecture and design are no exception to this impact. Their imprint may derive from the companies that supply them with materials and products or from the direct modifications of common spaces undertaken by architecture and design firms themselves. How can we offset the environmental side effects of our use of natural resources and our professional activities? In addition to the implementation of a culture of recycling and to the manufacturing of biodegradable products, companies can fulfil their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) by means of direct actions.
Reforesting in collaboration with NGOs
The non-profit organization Reforesta was created in Madrid (Spain) in 1991. Since its founding, it has enabled many companies in various sectors to fulfil their CSR commitments with the environment. As Reforesta explains, their first project, which started in 1993 and ended a year ago, was with a multinational energy company. This collaboration has brought environmental education to more than 140,000 people. During this time, the entity has been organizing different tailor-made activities for corporations, such as volunteering for companies.
“One of the problems of environmental education is that adults have been left out,” explains Miguel Ángel Ortega, from Reforesta. “Due to the fast pace of life, people simply do not have the time, and they are continuously required to change their habits, which generates resistance,” he says. By means of this partnership, companies find a way of reaching this adult audience, who, during the activities, is educated in how to respect the environment.
In the field of architecture and product design,COMPACSurfaces has a deep-rooted culture of CSR aimed at actively contributing to social, economic and environmental improvement. The most outstanding environmental action, in terms of its visibility, is the reforestation program it has in its Abrantes factory, in Portugal.
In 2003 the company started to plant trees in the plots where the facilities are located, specifically, in an area of 54 hectares. The aim is to offset the CO2emissions generated during the shipping of the products, as well as the emissions produced by the supply of raw materials. In 2012 COMPAC continued with the reforestation project, planting up to 30,000 native pine trees in the aforementioned plots.
To this we have to add their responsible use of water, as their factory in Spain has a system for the collection and storage of rainwater for its use in industrial processes. All the water used in the factory is treated in COMPAC’s own wastewater treatment plant and later incorporated into its circuit. To offset its losses in the form of sludge or evaporation, COMPAC does not use water from the public network; it obtains it from underground water resources and rainwater.
In year 2020, COMPAC Takes Sustainability To New Heights and these are the few reasons why they were awarded the sustainability award at the KBIS fair this year.
1) Reusing Water
It’s no wonder that the company’s primary objective is to manufacture its products from either raw materials that are recycled or made from renewable resources. It has been pursuing this objective since 1981 when COMPAC built the first water recovery and reuse plant. The plant was the most advanced in its day; 50% of all water was reused even when no regulations required this type of water processing. Nowadays, the firm reuses over 95% of its water.
2) Their aforementioned Reforestation Programme
Twenty years later, in 2003, the decorative surfaces brand for bathrooms and kitchens decided to implement an environmental policy. This initiative to offset its CO2 emissions. It did through a reforestation programme at its Abrantes factory in Portugal. Expectations were exceeded and, as of today, COMPAC has managed to plant over 30,000 autochthonous trees in Portugal, which surpasses its goal by over a third of the initial objective.
3) Clean Energy and Recycling Resources
Moreover, the KBIS 2020 award-winning brand manufactures only uses 100% renewable electric energy when producing its materials. In this sense, the company’s efforts lie both in generating clean energy and recycling previously used resources with management policies that pursue ‘zero waste’ goals.
Therefore, all the waste from the company’s manufacturing processes is separated into paper, cardboard, plastics, wood, organic waste, used batteries, etc. This meticulous waste separation aims to promote recycling and the proper value of resources. Therefore, all our warehouses are equipped with the proper facilities to recycle. However, clean production and recycling have to go far beyond our factories.
4) New Sustainable Materials
Lastly, in addition to its environmentally sustainable processes, it’s worth highlighting that COMPAC’s range of materials have also followed the goals set by the company since its early days. Alongside the brand’s classic materials—marble and quartz—the firm has, not surprisingly, now added two further sustainable sources: Petra and Obsidian.
Luxx Newhouse is the exclusive distributor for COMPAC Quartz in Singapore and Malaysia. We too are always working towards increased efficiency and reduction of carbon footprint in the long run.
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Email: marketing@luxxnewhouse.com
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