Selected certified sustainable Italian textile machinery
At still ongoing ITMA Asia + CITME in Shanghai (PRC) selected members of ACIMIT the Italian umbrella organisation of textile machinery manufacturers present for the first time their products with a green label certification of RINA an internationally operating Italian certification body
Looking at the main activities of RINA it surprises that in their own list we find the following certification fields: Marine, Power Generation, Manufacturing, Food and Catering, Oil & Gas, Yachting, Welfare, Infrastructures and Real Estate, Public Administration and Miscellaneous Services. In manufacturing we find that the offer Greenhouse Gas Emission Validation and Verification according to International and EC certification bodies. We list these, because we believe that not too many of you are familiar with this certification institution.
Of the 34 companies participating in the ACIMIT project of “Sustainable Technologies” six passed the RINA inspection audit in May, namely Flainox, ITEMA,, Jeaggli, Reggiani, Santoni and Tonello.
According to ACIMIT’s press release, RINA inspect the correct definition of the rules and is monitoring their implementation. The rules and regulations of the cited ACIMIT initiative require that around 20 % of the companies are participating in the project and RINA selects – at random – who is subjected to an inspection audit. The certification body is to verify the measurement methods of the parameters and the operational conditions of the machinery which is labelled.
All in all there are totally 115 Italian textile machinery manufacturers present in all machinery sectors and they exhibit on a surface of 4700 m2. ACIMIT grouped Italian sector groups in the respective sector halls consisting of 66 Italian companies and covering spinning and winding, weaving, nonwovens and finishing.
ACIMIT President Sandro Salmoiraghi claims: “There are other brands which claim to attribute the sustainability license to those who wear their badge, but there are always brands which are self-referential and exclusively of promotional nature”.
TextileFuture is a bit surprised by this statement, because looking at the Italian given figures: there are 115 exhibitors and 34 participants in the “Sustainable Technology” initiative and only six are yet certified by RINA and the details of the certification process and the standards applied are not evidenced, we figure that at least 28 are also labelled in a self claimed manner. Thus the majority of the 115 exhibitors are presenting their efforts in view to sustainability in a self-referential and promotional nature, so why attack non-Italian competitors doing alike or applying other principles, such as German blue competence by VDMA.
We feel it is important that sustainability in all of its facets are to be promoted as long as the declarations do face up to obtainable results. ACIMIT as a host of the next European edition of ITMA in 2015 in Milan (I) and under the motto “Master the Art of Sustainable Innovation” should praise and support such initiatives on sustainability of their fellow CEMATEX members, well knowing that there are many roads – not only a single initiative – leading to Rome! Should the claim of the ACIMIT President be addressed beyond this circle, we feel that every little step in the right direction will have an environmental friendly effect or raises the awareness of ecological responsibility and thus not be discriminated beforehand. And it is a given fact, ACIMIT as a ITMA host can make use of its privilege to evidence faulty declarations and to change such make believe attitudes by whoever it may concern. Such actions are destined to help to make this world of textiles cleaner, safer and healthier and therefore such actions are of true sustainable and commendable quality.