ECO-INNOVATION IN VALCUCINE FOR A CIRCULAR ECONOMY

Recently, more and more companies are implementing good environmental practices. Environmental certifications, besides being valuable management tools for companies, given the opportunity to strengthen their role on the market. An example of such virtuous behavior is the case of Valcucine, an enterprise of the Livenza furniture district in Northern Italy. Valcucine focuses its care in the production of furniture, in particular of kitchen units, characterized by sustainable production, eco-compatibility of materials and the lowest possible environmental impacts. Valcucine wishes to transfer its philosophy to customers by improving product quality, rationalizing the use of recyclable virgin raw materials, employing also recycled materials and reducing dangerous emissions into the environment. For this reason, Valcucine obtained several certifications, such as ISO 14001, Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), F**** (4 stars) Japanese Standard and Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). In particular, the LEED certification, obtained for the Invitrum and Meccanica production lines, allows the enterprise both to differentiate from the competitors and to enter new segments of the market, such as the Arab Countries, where the LEED certification is renowned and appreciated. This gives a strong competitive advantage to Valcucine, working in a production field which has been saturated for many years. This virtuous behavior of the enterprise fits well in the principles inspiring circular economy and perfectly embraces the Goals 6 (Clean and Water Sanitation), 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy), 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production) and 15 (Life on Land).