Mapei has received an award in recognition of their successful drive to reduce consumption of raw materials used in packaging, which has resulted in an overall reduction in weight for the same amount of packaged product and with the same performance criteria.

This year, Mapei decided to take part in the 2019 prevention invitation to tender – Promoting the environmental sustainability of packaging launched by CONAI (Consorzio Nazionale Imballaggi, or National packaging Consortium), an initiative to recognise the most innovative and eco-sustainable packaging solutions introduced to the market in the two-year period 2017-2018.

The two solutions proposed for the contest regarded the following:

• reducing the thickness of the plastic film used to palletise and shrink-wrap pallets of finished product (secondary packaging): from 100 to 90 microns (-11%);
• reducing the weight of the tubs used for ADESILEX MT32 (primary packaging): from 290 g of PP to 258 g of PP.

By using the Eco Tool CONAI, Mapei was able to measure the positive effects of the prevention work carried out on the packaging materials (lower CO₂ emissions, lower energy consumption and lower water consumption) by comparing the packaging solutions both before and after the modifications had been introduced.

Packaging, along with products and systems, are constantly analysed by the Mapei Environmental Sustainability team which applies LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) methods to calculate the environmental impact of packaging and the actual product during their entire life cycle, “from cradle to grave”.

Measuring life cycles puts Mapei in a position to develop more eco-sustainable products and packaging without affecting either their performance properties or quality.

“Environmental sustainability has now become a key component of Mapei’s corporate development strategy. The constant effort we put into the research and development of increasingly eco-sustainable solutions is also applied to our production processes and to the development of innovative packaging solutions using less plastic. Winning the 2019 Conai Prevention Invitation to tender makes us feel proud of all the work carried out until now and encourages us to push even further to invest in an increasingly sustainable future”, commented Marco Squinzi, CEO and Research & Development Director of the Mapei Group.

The Award, part of the Pensare Futuro initiative to promote corporate and business culture aimed at respecting the environment by introducing initiatives to make packaging more and more eco-sustainable, was presented on Thursday 4^th November at the Triennale di Milano exhibition during the Economy of the Future event, organised by the Italian national newspaper, Corriere della Sera.