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Spotlight on Italy’s cleaning sector
30th of June 2026 Article by Anna Garbagna
ECJ’s Anna Garbagna with news of a special event for Made in Italy Day at Interclean Amsterdam.
Italy is playing an increasingly prominent role in the industrial cleaning sector. Evidence of this was provided by the celebration of Made in Italy Day at Interclean Amsterdam recently, attended by Italy’s Ambassador to the Netherlands, Augusto Massari.
Italy’s presence at the exhibition became a high-profile showcase for the professional cleaning industry – a sector that may be modest in size compared with other industrial markets, but which has earned a strong reputation for competing successfully on the international stage. The quality, expertise and reliability associated with Made in Italy were highlighted during the ambassador’s visit to the stands of the Italian companies exhibiting at the show.
Accompanied by Francesco Pasquini and Stefania Verrienti, president and director of Afidamp respectively, Ambassador Massari met with business leaders and paid tribute to a supply chain that makes an important contribution to Italy’s reputation as a manufacturing and exporting nation. The visit represented recognition of a sector that forms an important part of Italy’s industrial excellence worldwide.
The panel discussion Technology & Sustainability: The Engines of Made in Italy, moderated by Verrienti, focused on the twin themes of technology and sustainability. The session explored the value of Italian industry through the perspective of international markets. It provided an open discussion with those who work alongside Italian companies every day and are able to assess their competitiveness, reliability and capacity for innovation first-hand.
The panel featured Robert Stelling, director of Interclean; Tamara van Ark, president of Schoonmakend Nederland and former Dutch minister for medical care and sport; Philippe Scemama, CEO of DHYS International Group; and Antonio Kouwenberg, founder of Klien IT. Representing the association, business and technology sectors, the speakers offered different perspectives on why the Italian industrial model continues to be recognised and appreciated internationally.
The discussion focused on the factors that make Made in Italy competitive: product quality, manufacturing flexibility and the ability to build strong relationships with partners and distributors, alongside a growing commitment to innovation, digitalisation and sustainability. These latter two drivers are reshaping the future of professional cleaning, transforming processes, products and business strategies.
The speakers highlighted an Italian cleaning sector that is responding pragmatically to change and embracing new opportunities for increasingly international collaboration, particularly between Italy and the Netherlands.
To mark the cultural and industrial significance of the sector, Ambassador Massari was presented with a copy of ‘Della Pulizia Industriale’ by Giulio Guizzi, one of the world’s leading experts on the history of cleaning. The book traces the evolution of the cleaning industry and highlights its global significance, demonstrating how professional cleaning has become a strategic sector built on manufacturing expertise, innovation and business culture.
The celebration of Made in Italy Day at Interclean therefore represented more than a symbolic gesture; it served as recognition of the sector’s industrial and strategic importance. Under the spotlight of the industry’s leading international exhibition, the Italian professional cleaning sector once again demonstrated its ability to engage global markets through its products, expertise and vision. Often operating away from the public eye, the sector is nevertheless becoming increasingly central to global trends in innovation, sustainability and competitiveness.
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