Photo: Sebastiano Luciano, Alcantara S.p.A.

The registered trademark Alcantara® is the result of the unique and proprietary technology of Alcantara S.p.A., founded in 1972. Alcantara is a highly innovative material applied in various fields: fashion and accessories, automotive, interior design and home décor, as well as consumer electronics. Since the very beginning, the approach of Alcantara to sustainability has been “value beyond costs.”

Alcantara started its strong commitment to sustainability in 2009, following the Lehman shock. At that time, the company clearly understood that the world was facing an important economic challenge. Alcantara thought it was necessary to introduce a structural change to its offerings, and assumed that the demand for sustainable products, services, and behavior would grow all over the world. Thanks to the strategy of offering exclusive and highly customized solutions in a responsible and sustainable way, the company’s turnover grew from €64.3 million in 2009 to €187.2 million in 2016 without any setbacks, Alcantara has exported the values of “Made in Italy” through its extraordinary ability to combine technology and craftsmanship, relying on continuous research and innovation. This process is amplified through extremely constructive relationships with leaders in international design thanks to partnerships with well-established designers, creative avant-gardes, and the most prestigious museum institutions.

Being sustainable

Sustainability is a value that Alcantara has been translating into concrete actions for more than eight years. Starting in 2009, the company began publishing its annual Sustainability Report in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative standards. It was one of the first European companies to be certified as “carbon neutral” by TÜV SÜD, having measured and reduced the CO2 emissions resulting from its operations, and thus compensating for those that cannot be eliminated.

The carbon neutrality goal, which required enormous efforts throughout the company, was reached thanks to the coordinated implementation of a series of targeted actions: scrupulous measurement of overall CO2 contributions; drastic reduction in CO2 emissions (through plant modernization, process rationalization, technical equipment upgrading, energy sourcing, and waste water treatment); and offsetting residual emissions by joining the UN-coordinated international compensation program. All of these activities are certified by TÜV SÜD, one of the most strict international certifying bodies.

Besides environmental protection, these projects also have a strong social meaning aimed at improving people’s conditions, creating job opportunities, and promoting the use of renewable energies. In the past, the following territories have been involved: Honduras, Turkey, China, Kenya, Taiwan, New Zealand, Thailand, Vietnam, Chile, India, Indonesia, Brazil, Ghana, Uganda, and New Caledonia, for a total of more than 20 projects. By supporting these projects, Alcantara has offset its residual emissions, thereby achieving a zero greenhouse gas emissions footprint.

In 2016, Alcantara became a member of the Clinton Global Initiative, a project of the Clinton Foundation, which involves global leaders in innovative solutions for the most significant global issues and challenges in the field of sustainability.

Furthermore, in November 2016, Alcantara began to officially participate in the United Nations Global Compact, whose Ten Principles the company draws inspiration from to manage an ethical and sustainable business that creates value for its shareholders. As a participant in the Global Compact, Alcantara has committed itself to respecting and promoting the Ten Principles of the Global Compact by integrating them into the company’s values and businesses all over the world.

Stakeholder engagement 

Alcantara is also committed to a strong focus on stakeholder engagement. It carries out actions and initiatives aimed at involving its principal partners in its sustainability program in a manner that affects a broad cross-section of actors: customers, partners, suppliers, agencies, institutions, associations, nongovernmental organizations, universities, press, influencers, and opinion leaders. 

Some of the activities included “Alcantara Dialogues. Connect4Climate” in 2013 and “Alcantara Magic Garden @ Earth Day” in 2015. There were also three international symposiums: the “International Symposium on Sustainability in the Global Automotive Industry: Sustainability and the New Automotive Value Chain” in 2014; the “International Symposium on Sustainability in the Global Automotive Industry: The Automotive Ecosystem on the Global Road to Sustainability. The Asian Perspective” in 2015 (both with Venice International University and the support of the Center for Automotive and Mobility Innovation); and the “International Symposium on Sustainability and Corporate Value” in 2016, in partnership with Nikkei, the Venice International University, and Waseda University, with support from the Society of Global Business.

Sustainability report: An act of transparency

The Sustainability Report expressly indicates the results achieved, new targets, as well as unmet objectives within all dimensions of sustainability: economic, social, and environmental. In this sense, it confirms Alcantara’s strong desire for transparency and reliability with respect to its stakeholders by making the report available through the company’s website. Alcantara believes that a commitment to society and the environment represents a fundamental pillar of the culture and politics of any company, industry, country, or community, and that it is becoming less and less voluntary or optional. 

For Alcantara, the Sustainability Report (based on GRI methodology) measures in a transparent and correct manner the carbon neutrality, the strenghtening of resposible procurement, a new extension of stakeholder engagement initiatives, and continuous investment and research toward the development and implementation on an industrial scale of products and processes of biological origin with lower environmental impacts. All of this is included within a context of growth, not only financial but also of employment and brand reputation.

What’s next?

Alcantara started production in 2016 / 2017 of polymers that partially use renewable sources thanks to the monitoring of state-of-the-art raw materials from renewable sources. The target is to have an Alcantara material that is totally bio-based by 2020 along with many other sustainability objectives consistent with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.