Who chose EPDItaly tells its story: Ceramiche Gresmalt Group

Gresmalt is one of the top players in the ceramic industry in Italy in terms of square meters produced, with 7 locations, more than 160 million in sales with state-of-the-art technology. All production is carried out in Italy, in its three owned factories. The company decided to rely on EPDItaly to obtain the EPD certification that describes, in a transparent, objective and comparable way, the environmental impact of porcelain tiles manufactured in the three factories in the province of Reggio Emilia and Modena.

We interviewed Alessandra Salvarani, Gresmalt’s Chief ESG Officer, who told us about the reasons why the company decided to adopt EPD certification and what the benefits of such a document are.

Your group has more than 50 years of experience. How has the market changed today and what values are most valued?

European regulatory developments have profoundly changed the market as the ambitious goal of achieving climate neutrality by 2050 conditions consumer choices that are increasingly oriented toward buying sustainable products. Today, a product must have a beautiful design, comply with technical standards, and have sustainability features understood as the reduction of environmental and social impacts. As a result, it is becoming increasingly important to design products with an eye toward their sustainability.

Today making a good product is not enough. One must take utmost care in sustainable production. Do you agree?

Eco-design has become the indispensable design approach for making products that are aesthetically beautiful, comply with technical standards and, at the same time, are sustainable.This involves adopting production systems that use resources responsibly to minimize environmental impacts.
In the field of ceramic manufacturing, for example, we are witnessing a process of dematerialization that involves reducing thicknesses to eliminate everything superfluous and, as a direct consequence, reduce environmental impacts closely related to mass. In the recent past, high thickness was perceived as an element of higher quality; on the contrary, today, products with reduced thickness, as long as they comply with technical standards, are considered of greater value because they have less impact.

You have decided to certify more products through EPD. Why did you choose this scheme and not others? What benefits has it brought you?

European standards counteract greenwashing and favor transparent communication systems of product sustainability requirements for correct and not misleading information to end consumers. As a result, qualitative information is no longer sufficient. The EPD is the appropriate tool to describe in a quantitative way the environmental impacts throughout the product life cycle and transfer them correctly to the market.

Do you consider EPDItaly a useful platform for the promotion and enhancement of your products?

Yes, the publication and subsequent disclosure of the environmental product declaration is now a requirement and is demanded by the market to substantiate the environmental impacts of the product. The EPD is a useful tool for improving environmental communication between manufacturers, distributors and consumers worldwide.EPDItaly is the right Program Operator for a company with a strongly international vocation like Gresmalt.