Alex Bútor is committed to sustainability. We know that there is a future for the company, our colleagues and their families if we do everything we can to reduce our impact on the environment.
Sustainability is a very complex, yet very simple issue. The production of a product, in our case a piece of furniture, starts at the design table. The selection of materials, their use, their input into production, the minimisation and management of waste, the reduction of energy consumption in factories all influence the design and manufacturing processes.
From the user's point of view the durability is the main factor alongside aesthetics, and we can achieve this with quality materials. High quality is one of the pillars of sustainability, as prolonged use reduces the impact on the environment.
Alex Furniture has joined the unique collaborative community of SEAQUAL INITIATIVE, which works with ocean clean-up programs around the world to convert their marine debris into recycled marine plastic. A new, fully traceable raw material that can raise awareness about marine pollution. A minimum of 10% of SEAQUAL® yarns are made from recycled marine plastic, the rest from recycled polyester land-based plastic (PET bottles).
The laminated chipboards are cut to size on a board splitting machine with optimisation software, so that as little waste as possible is produced during production. The excess material is returned to the manufacturer, who recycles 100% of it for the production of new material.
Our metal raw materials are also used in an optimised way, with the aim of minimising production waste. The material that is no longer usable is taken away and recycled by a carefully selected partners, as metal and laminated chipboards, can be recycled indefinitely.
The metal frames are surface treated by electrostatic powder coating in a closed system, so that it does not escape into the air, and the powder that is left behind during the spraying process is recovered and reused.
The paper and plastic packaging materials we receive are either reused for packaging, or pressed and bundled using our own dedicated equipment so that specialist companies can recycle them. The amount of packaging material used is optimised by packaging machines, reducing the use of stretch film by around 20%.
The use of renewable energy sources was an important aspect of the design of our new plant, so we installed a high-efficiency heat pump to manage heat energy. It can be used to use cooling energy for heating and to recover ambient heat. Our solar park offsets a part of the electricity consumption.
