The voluntary Made Green in Italy certification for scrubber dryers offers a competitiveness tool that matches high environmental performances and Made in Italy. It is based on the Product Category Rule drawn up by AFIDAMP, which has been validated by the Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security.
A new voluntary certification is available for the manufacturers of scrubber dryers and it stakes on the “sustainability” and “Made in Italy” pair to promote Italian enterprises’ competitiveness. It is the Made Green in Italy (MGI), certification based on the Product Category Rule (PCR) drawn up by AFIDAMP (Association of Italian Suppliers of Cleaning Equipment, Machines, Products and Services) and by its machine work group. The Made Green in Italy mark intends to boost Italian products with high environmental performances and to make them more easily recognizable, in order to encourage more aware purchase choices. Moreover, it certifies that the environmental footprint measurement of scrubber dryers along the whole lifecycle is carried out according to sound scientific criteria. The PCR, which contains the methodological indications to execute the calculation of the environmental footprint, has been validated by the Ministry of the Environment and of the Energy Security and is published on MASE website. Therefore, it is already possible to start the certification process. Through the MGI scheme, MASE intends to orient the initiatives of the Italian manufacturing system towards the use of the environmental footprint as boost to improve the performances in the sustainability ambit and to develop the Made in Italy, in order to promote Italian products’ competitiveness in the context of the growing demand for “green” solutions, on both a national and international scale.
The characteristics of the MGI scheme
The Made Green in Italy scheme was established by the art. 21, paragraph 1 of the law n. 221/2015 and is framed in a course undertaken by MASE to turn environmental challenges into opportunities, in order to promote the ecologic transition. The trademark is applicable to products that, according to the EU 952/2013 regulation, have origin in Italy. One of the most relevant aspects is that the Made Green in Italy – as highlighted by Matteo Malorgio from MASE in a webinar organized by AFIDAMP – is the first and only certification of public nature that adopts the European PEF (Product Environmental Footprint) methodology: therefore, the decision was transposing the European calculation rules, however integrating further more ambitious national requisites of environmental quality, able to distinguish the Italian production. More in detail, the measurement of environmental performances is based on a complete PEF study verified by a third body. The development course of the PCR has led to the processing of a benchmark that approximates the average environmental performance for the specific product category and is reviewed every four years: only the scrubber dryers characterized by higher performances (A-class) or equalling the benchmark (B-class) can have the certification. However, concerning the companies in which the product is positioned in B-class, the certification can be obtained only through an amelioration plan that must be implemented in the lapse of the three validity years of the concession of trademark use. During the already mentioned webinar, Nicola Fabbri, Senior consultant of ERGO (spin off company of Sant’Anna Higher School in Pisa), highlighted that the introduction of a sector benchmark is an element of great innovation and Italy is the first Country in Europe that has made this choice.
A further factor that characterizes the Made Green in Italy scheme is that it highlights, besides technical aspects, also the communication of environmental information, considered fundamental to allow customers and stakeholders to make aware choices indeed. The reading of a LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) report is not simple, for this reason those who require the MGI certification are called to produce an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) that summarizes the primary contents of the environmental footprint study, so that they can be more easily understandable.
Therefore, the certification allows companies achieving it to offer guarantees about the way of managing environmental aspects and to maintain the regulatory conformity in time, precisely because companies themselves are committed to undergoing periodical checks by third independent bodies and to investing resources in the constant improvement of environmental performances, also to meet performance requisites that evolve in time, becoming more and more ambitious. The evolution of the European regulatory framework issues very exacting challenges and traces an irreversible course in terms of environmental performances and of information communication. The Made Green in Italy certification was born in this context, with the goal of offering enterprises an instrument to keep pace with times and to develop their competitiveness. “The work carried out by AFIDAMP to reach this result – commented Alessandro Panico, AFIDAMP Regulator and Secretary of CEI 59/61J Subcommittee – was articulated and complex, but we are proud of having created a Rule that has identified some shared values based on European Regulations. This was enabled by the synergistic work of our technical secretary and of member companies, with the wise direction of ERGO, and will allow enterprises to approach the Italian market and also international ones with a certification of great value”.
