Research and innovation in the service of packaging sustainability
Continuous innovation in sustainable packaging, 5% of sales reinvested in research, constant improvement in environmental performance of products, 2.4 times lower CO2 emissions than chemical alternatives. The AIM-listed company’s first sustainability report reveals the secrets of Grifal’s success and lays the groundwork for producing increasingly environmentally friendly products.
Grifal today released its first sustainability report to strongly affirm its positioning as an influential player in the sustainable packaging industry, 100% focused on the constant innovation of environmentally friendly packaging products.
Grifal in 2019 invested €909,040(+14.8% compared to 2018) in research and development, which corresponds to 5% of turnover(€18,637,357).
Indeed, the company places deep and continuous innovation at the center of its industrial strategy, as evidenced by cArtù®, the revolutionary technology that reinvented traditional corrugated cardboard and, thanks to a higher corrugation, increased its strength, making it a cost-effective and sustainable alternative to plastics And to other chemical packaging products.
Life Cycle Assessment
The benefit in environmental terms is unparalleled, as evidenced by the LCA study-Life Cycle Assessment- presented in the budget that quantifies the CO2 emissions required to produce one m3 of cArtù® (35 kg) and compares them with those required to produce the same amount of traditional cardboard (78 kg) and polystyrene (86.45 kg). The same study extended the analysis to an average industrial use of another product using cArtù® technology: using 100,000 kg of cushionPaper™ instead of the same amount of Styrofoam, 418,000 kg of CO2 is saved, equivalent to the CO2 that 59,976 trees would absorb: an area equal to 84 soccer fields.
Reliability, growth and resilience
Grifal’s sustainability report paints a company focused on innovation and sustainability then, but not only. Indeed, the document paints a picture of a company in excellent economic health that relies on the talent of its employees: in 2019, Grifal reported a 7.3 percent growth in sales compared to 2018, and employees, reaching 99, increased by 13 percent compared to 2018.
The company also puts employee safety first, updating its procedures according to the most stringent regulations through an effective management system that allows constant monitoring. The company’s focus on safety was also confirmed in 2020, when Covid struck hard in the province of Bergamo, where Grifal is based: a rapid reorganization which enabled the implementation of employee social distancing, smart working where necessary and possible, and all health guidance from the Authorities, and contributed to the Company not recording a single contagion until May (reporting period) while continuing to operate.
At the same time, Grifal’s innovation orientation has turned the crisis into an opportunity, causing the company to partially reconvert its business strategy, giving a strong boost to its online sales (+300% of E-commerce customers compared to the same period in 2019).
Fabio Gritti, CEO of Grifal
“Grifal’s history has always been rooted in the concept of continuous innovation. Today, in a market environment in which the growth of e-commerce invariably leads to a steady increase in packaging, innovation in packaging, in order to be practical and effective, must necessarily move toward solutions that decrease its environmental impact. This is the path we have embarked on with cArtù® and the Sustainability Report aims to mark a milestone on this journey, setting the stage for new goals that are increasingly ambitious.”
