The theme of “Sustainability“ will increasingly be at the centre of every human activity and in particular of company strategies in all sectors including the world of furniture. The relationship between economic activity and respect for the environment is now an absolute priority on which governments intervene and to which attention is turned by consumers, who are increasingly attentive and informed.
In order to meet the needs of companies in the Catas sector, Catas has created a specific working group on the subject of Sustainability to support companies in their “green“ analysis and design processes.

Lca-Life Cycle Assessment: the environmental impact of a product

The tools to assess the environmental impact of a product not only in its production, but throughout its entire life, for as long as it is used, until disposal, are included in the “Lca-Life Cycle Assessment“.
This method imposes strict, precise assessment and measurement tools in order to generate an “Epd-Environment Product Declaration“, i.e. an “environmental declaration“ that can be verified by a third party body and made public, through databases of bodies and institutes recognised worldwide, so that the “ecological characteristics“ of a good can be known by everyone and thus become a “plus“ among the reasons for purchasing.
Obtaining a product's “environmental identity card“ requires complex knowledge and tools, as well as a series of information needed to be able to assess all those aspects that are generally beyond the producer's control, such as electricity supply, logistics, raw materials, etc..

A technical method to obtain the Life Cycle Assessment of a product

From 22nd September a team of Catas technicians will take part in an advanced training project that will enable them to have all the necessary tools, skills, models, procedures, by June 2021, to offer wood-furnishing companies the possibility of carrying out Life Cycle Assessment studies on their products.
The service that Catas will offer companies will be based on a technical method already adopted in many other sectors at an international level, with that rigour and objectivity on measurements defined by the UNI 11698:2017 standard “Estimation, declaration and use of the uncertainty of the results of a Life Cycle Assessment - Requirements and guidelines“.
This assessment will make it possible to measure the “environmental cost“ of a good taking into account its entire life cycle, from the extraction of raw materials to the production cycle, up to its use and “end of life“, quantifying the consumption of resources and emissions, all regulated by a series of ISO standards that will guarantee companies to give objectivity to their environmental commitment.