ECJ EUROPEAN Cleaning Journal

Italian reporter Anna Garbagna looks back at the presentation of the Clean Green Afidamp Awards.

Companies in every sector are tending more and more towards being ‘green’, or paying attention to ecology and sustainability. There are many awards which encourage this trend. The Clean Green Afidamp Award is the annual award for the professional and industrial cleaning sector’s products, systems or services which have a strong environmental 'vocation'.

This award was generated by the need to raise environmental awareness. AfidampFAB, the Italian association of producer of machines, products and tools for cleaning, believes the environment does not represent a cost for a company but an added value, hence its request for ethical commitment and higher awareness in research for sustainability.

AfidampFAB, in fact, believes that it is necessary for a company which is aiming to achieve environmental sustainability, to intervene right from the planning stage (choice of materials, product planning, development process, etc) as well as the aspects connected to product management (storage, buying raw materials and transport).

This year, the awards have also been presented to those companies which stood out for their concern for ecology and that were able to be environmentally friendly in the research and in the development of improved cleaning products, tools and  techniques.

In the Equipment category, FHP Vileda won with its 100 per cent microfibre cloth Evolon. The company affirmed its growing commitment in improving the whole production cycle. It is fundamental that the process used to produce Evolon microfibre has been developed in the total absence of chemical products and therefore becomes an extremely innovative product with reduced environmental impact. The company has also achieved Nordic Swan Label certification.

For the Chemical Products category, the company Ar-Co Chemica won with the product Gynius Ecolabel. The company stood out for its commitment to put environmental impact at the centre of the whole system of innovation, working in synergy with Ecolabel instruments. In this case the methodological approach in enhancing product information by means of verified and certified data has been given the award.

The project meets environmental sustainability parameters in terms of reducing electricity consumption, lowering CO2 emissions, saving water consumption and reducing the use of packaging and containers.

In the Machinery section, the winner was Kärcher with its T12/1 eco! vacuum cleaner, for its ability to make better use of technology to reach higher standards in energy efficiency in order to reduce environmental impact.

Two special commendations: to Falpi, for its MyPadDock management software which, by means of an intelligent information filing system allows a reduction in consumables used in printing and an optimisation of management time, with a consequent reduction of environmental impact. The other commendation was awarded to RARO for its QR labelling system, a code containing all the information required to certify the quality of a product.

The Clean Green Afidamp Award is a special occasion to offer and face new challenges for sustainable innovation in a continuous way.