Environment

ENVIRONMENT

INCREASINGLY SUSTAINABLE
PORCELAIN STONEWARE
PRODUCTION

Coem would like to reaffirm its determination and commitment to building a better world, in full awareness of its social, environmental and economic responsibilities.
Coem's values and actions are founded upon a passion for beauty and for a job well done, a profound love for nature and our land, and sincere respect for people.
For years now, the company has been investing in innovation with a view to reducing its environmental impact, with on-going research aimed at improving the entire ceramic production system, reducing waste, saving time and optimising materials and resources, in order to guarantee porcelain stoneware surfaces that are both beautiful and sustainable. Eco-sustainability requisites help improve the quality and safety of environments inside buildings, and do not impact the visual appeal of the porcelain stoneware support, which is always at the forefront of design and technological innovation.

RESPONSIBLE DESIGN
OF CERAMIC SURFACES

In the future, it will be possible to turn all kinds of waste into new resources, to reduce consumption of raw materials. It is with this aim in mind that Coem is working on a number of circularity programmes for all areas of its business. The company has installed recycling bins in all its offices, and created packaging with more than 70% recycled content, achieving independently verified and certified excellence with regard to all the packaging-related parameters established by the ISO 17889-1 standard. In addition, Coem works with research centres and start-ups, endeavouring to promote technological innovations that enable more efficient waste management throughout the porcelain stoneware production process, as well as the development of new recycled raw materials or eco-compatible design tools that promote circularity.

CAREFUL MANAGEMENT
OF WATER RESOURCES

Coem continues to carefully monitor water resources, necessary for the production of porcelain stoneware, by implementing the most effective techniques available in the sector to reduce consumption and for the complete use of industrial wastewater and rainwater.
In 2023, specific water consumption fell by 12.7%, registering a 0.6% drop in specific consumption compared to 2022.
In order to minimise water consumption in its production processes, Coem has gradually developed an internal system for the re-use of water, using a water purifier. In this way, almost all process water can be fed back into the porcelain stoneware production system several times, thus reducing the demand for water taken from the mains or wells. Coem has also implemented a rainwater recovery system, using a tank with a capacity of 25 cubic metres, located in the raw material storage areas, which allows rainwater to be collected, treated and reused.
Low specific water consumption has allowed Coem to achieve certified excellence, independently verified by Certiquality based on a number of points, in accordance with the ISO 17889-1 standard.

8% REDUCTION
IN ENERGY CONSUMPTION
COMPARED TO 2022

Coem is constantly upgrading its systems to boost efficiency and reduce energy consumption in the production of porcelain stoneware.
In both the Fiorano Modenese and Roteglia plants, it recovers waste heat from the kilns, which is channelled into other thermal production processes at lower temperatures than the firing process, such as the atomisation phase, the post-pressing and piece moulding drying phase, and the heating of production areas in winter, recently updated. This reduces heat consumption and thus the related CO2 emissions. For the production of thermal energy, Coem uses methane gas, the fossil fuel with the lowest environmental impact, and mainly purchases energy from renewable sources, or produces its own, thanks to a new 5000-square-metre, 1.08 MWp photovoltaic plant installed in the Fiorano Modenese factory. For the Roteglia factory, electrical energy and heat is sourced from a high-yield co-generation plant.

Coem has been pursuing Environmental Sustainability for some years now, and since 2010, it has chosen to voluntarily certify its processes and porcelain stoneware products, obtaining UNI ISO 14001:2015 Environmental Management System Certification for all its factories, in compliance with the EU Regulation EMAS (Eco-Management and Audit Scheme).

EMAS and UNI ISO 14001:2015 are two voluntary tools that aim to contribute to sustainable economic development, highlighting the role and responsibility of businesses, not only in monitoring the impacts of their activities, but also in setting themselves concrete goals for improvement, published in the environmental statement updated annually and visible to all stakeholders on the company’s website for the purpose of transparency.

COEM CATALOGUES
ARE PRINTED ON FSC®
CERTIFIED PAPER

The Forest Stewardship Council™️ (FSC) aims to ensure that forests are managed in a sustainable and environmentally friendly way, while also supporting local communities.
The importance of forests cannot be emphasised enough. They cover about a third of the planet, store carbon, filter water and provide millions of species with the habitat they need to survive. Despite being essential for the survival of our planet, forests are still subjected to destructive activities, including deforestation, exploitation for crop farming and other poorly managed resource extraction activities.

PACKAGING WITH 100% RECYCLABLE MATERIALS

Reduction in consumption for the packaging of coem porcelain stoneware

For the packaging of its ceramic tiles, Coem mainly uses three categories of materials: wood, plastic and cardboard. Cardboard bubble wrap and low-environmental-impact cardboard material is used for preparing samples, and where this is not possible due to the risk of breakage, recycled plastic bubble wrap is used.
The shrink sleeves it uses for packaging are made partially from recyclable plastic, and can in turn be recycled. For several years now, Coem has been using a technology for packaging porcelain stoneware that enables a reduction of up to 50% in the consumption of cardboard, which is made from recycled and fully recyclable material. 2023 saw the completion of a process, initiated in part in 2021, for the gradual elimination of packaging made from cardboard subjected to chemical whitening treatments, replacing it with recyclable cardboard with a recycled content of more than 70%. The use of cutting-edge packaging machines, which package our ceramic surfaces directly in the machine and just-in-time, with customised graphics, allows us to reduce cardboard consumption. Coem has achieved excellence, independently verified, in all the packaging parameters established in the new ISO 17889-1 certification.