Interview with Mauro Rullo, Confindustria Ceramica
Mauro Rullo serves as an officer in the Economy, Climate Policy and Sustainability Area of Confindustria Ceramica.
Do you think the issue of product sustainability is an important aspect today and one that should be enhanced from a supply chain perspective?
The issue of product sustainability is becoming an increasingly important aspect today. This is because both consumers and legislators are demanding information regarding the sustainability performance of construction products, both in Europe and North America. Making correct information available to the end user, in a transparent way, allows the latter to make increasingly informed choices, enabling more environmentally virtuous products to be valued.
What is changing today from a consumer perspective?
Compared to the past, consumers are much more attentive and aware when it comes to the environmental impact of products; this is also true when it comes to construction products. Consumers and designers are increasingly demanding environmental product declarations and are now more attentive to the presence of representative data on the environmental performance associated with the construction products they are considering for purchase.
The LCA tool of Confindustria Ceramica
Confindustria Ceramics was the first among supply chain associations to promote a specific LCA tool dedicated to this sector. Why did you decide to pursue this initiative?
Confindustria Ceramica was among the first industry associations to promote the development and implementation of the LCA tool dedicated to its sector, ceramic tiles. This choice was made to enable all the companies we represent to be able to independently develop product LCA studies, so that they can qualify in the market with timely and representative information on the environmental performance of the products they manufacture. With the LCA tool, Confindustria Ceramica aims to allow member companies to enhance the efforts put in place over the past decades, in terms of environmental, energy and circularity performance; efforts that make the Italian ceramic tile sector the world reference in terms of sustainability and, indeed, environmental performance.
How does the tool work?
The LCA tool allows member companies to develop product-specific EPDs completely independently. This is because within it there is already a modeling of the ceramic production process, so companies will only have to sample and enter within a simple interface, the primary data required by the software, all with significant advantages in terms of cost and time. In the association’s intention, the LCA tool will enable even greater dissemination of product EPDs, a key tool for communicating one’s sustainability performance to the market that is internationally recognized.
What benefits could Confindustria Ceramica member companies gain from publishing EPDs for their products?
The benefits that Confindustria Ceramics member companies could gain from the publication of their product EPDs are many. One very important one concerns the possibility of making available to the final consumer environmental product declarations that can be as representative as possible of the performance achieved by Italian ceramics companies, and accepted by consumers and designers all over the world. With the ultimate goal of correctly and transparently communicating the levels of excellence achieved today by Italian ceramic products.