Alea has always focused its efforts to develop products and activities environment-friendly in order to contribute to a better environment and also accommodate its customer requests for a reliable product.  We believe that a sustainable business works for the environment, the consumer and the employee.

Nowadays the consumer is increasingly aware of the importance of preserving our natural heritage and is increasingly willing to have an active role in protecting the environment. Even the industrial sector is obliged to devise new strategies that permit environmental-friendly production. It is a well-known fact that any object created artificially by man has an impact on the environment, be it big or small, but man can do much to reduce it to a minimum. Alea has been researching into innovative technologies that allow production with a low impact on the environment. In this way it has managed to create products that are dematerialised (reducing the quantity of materials and energy used to a minimum), recyclable (facilitating the reutilisation of discarded materials) and long-lasting (reducing the production of waste).

Alea constantly aim at improving production processes in order to simultaneously satisfy both the requirements of a continuous economical growth and the conservation of our natural heritage for the future. Using secondary materials involves substantial energy savings when compared with primary production.

Those percentages prove as the secondary production is less polluting than the primary production. The BIR (Bureau of International Recycling, is an international trade federation representing the world’s recycling industry, covering in particular ferrous and non-ferrous metals, paper and textiles. Plastics, rubber and tyres are also studied and traded by some BIR members) states that producing from recycled paper means 35% less water pollution and 74% less air pollution and that producing from recycled steel means 86% less air pollution.

Consistent with the “green design” initiatives, Alea Collections have redefined the standard in the use of elements for office design. Combining materials from different origins, such as crystal glass, metal & wood, the versatile system changes, adapts and reacts to meet the current demands of its environment. Utilizing innovative technologies, the manufacturing of its sophisticated products is focused on promoting environmentally conscious engineering.

The recycled content

The suppliers of the Alea worksurfaces particle board panels are “ECOLOGICAL PANEL” and “PROGETTO ECOQUALITA” (eco-quality project) certified. Both organizations check the origins of the wood materials and make sure they come from forests and plantations that are managed in accordance with the Forest safeguard criteria. Literally the Ecological Panel is a recycled wood panel used in the furniture manufacturing. The percentage of recycled content in the particle boards is 60-70%. The percentage of post consumer content in the recycled material is 100%.

Furthermore, the wood used has a natural origin, and does not alter the environment. Solid wood is a renewable raw material which does not damage the ecosystem, provided it is rationally collected. None of the Alea veneers are mentioned in the CITES lists (CITES: Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora: is an international agreement between Governments. Its aim is to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival).

Formaldehyde content in particle boards

All the particle board panels belong to class E1 regarding the emission of formaldehyde. Therefore our furniture meets and exceeds the strict requirements of standard on formaldehyde emissions. Formaldehyde is a toxic gas contained in some glues or varnish. It is thought to be carcinogenic, and it can go on being emitted even several years after the construction of the furniture. This is the reason why the “E1 regulation” compliance is important.

Alea recyclable materials

Alea materials are the result of the assembling of independent components, each of them made of homogeneous materials. Those features allow to separate the different components and to recycle each of them. As a matter of fact the 99.7% of Alea raw materials is recyclable.

The 100% of his packaging (cardboard boxes, pallets, paper etc.) is fully reusable and recyclable. Recently Alea has invested in a new fully automated packaging machine that doesn’t use foam at all but just carton to pack the product. Also the new machine minimizes the use of carton per item significantly reducing the waste of packing material per product.

Waste materials

In nature, substances go around, are transformed and are all reabsorbed and reutilised in the end. We also must learn to reduce the quantity of waste and favour the reutilisation and recycling of materials in every possible way, also because the resources at our disposal are not unlimited. Alea has devised the most simple and total recyclables of its products by designing them so that the elements of which they are composed are easy to identify and separate when they are discarded (as shown in the table above). For example the Zefiro aluminium frame can be 100% recycled and it already contains recycled materials. Recycled aluminium is an extremely environmental-friendly product because it is recuperated by consuming only 5% of the energy used for the production of the primary metal and without any emission of gas. The Italian National Association of the non ferrous metallurgy companies (so called ASSOMET) has stated that in the 2000 the percentage of the recycled aluminum (post industrial and post consumer) produced in Italy was 45% (an increasing percentage if compared to the previous years).

More than the 90% of our waste materials is recycled or sent to certified organizations with recyclable programs. Only the 8% is not recycled, but it does not have any toxis or noxious components.

Alea Fabric

Alea fabrics are synthetic and recyclable. All his suppliers are ISO registered 14001, the highest rating.

Indoor health and security

Alea has always demonstrated its concern for indoor health and security. Alea always takes care of the production methods, managing of materials and areas where they are manufactured, informing correctly the personnel.