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Abet Laminati Environmental Statement

ABET LAMINATI is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of High Pressure Decorative Laminates. The company is Europe’s leader and operates internationally, supplying regularly to over 70 countries.

The Company’s development plan includes extensions to its current plants, boosting today’s industrial area of 250,000m2 and thereby making it possible to increase production from the current 180,000m 2 of laminate each day. However, ABET LAMINATI’s growth is not just a question of quantity. Growth means cultural sensitivity and openness. Growth means awareness of environmental concerns and this is reflected in the installation of one of the most advanced waste purification systems developed by state of the art international technology.

Growth is taking on and accepting new responsibilities for the environment while continuing to explore new territories. New technologies make possible considerable savings of energy and resources. In the production of high-pressure laminates, water vapour is obtained in the liquid state at a temperature of about 150°C. Once used, instead of being lost to the environment, Abet has invested in equipment to store it in a high temperature water reservoir to be reutilised in subsequent working cycles. Even the water needed for the successive cooling cycle is cooled each time in specially developed towers instead of being continuously replaced from new sources. ABET LAMINATI research concentrates on the search for solutions that can cut to an absolute minimum the environmental impact of the products it puts on the market. That is why no Print HPL product contains asbestos, lead or other heavy metal and the décor papers are manufactured only using clean pigments. This is not only a guarantee on non-toxicity for those using them but also a guarantee that they will not cause pollution when disposed of or dispersed into the environment. All paper used in the production of Print HPL is obtained exclusively from renewable sources.

The development of new environmental responsibilities is also an opportunity for growth for ABET LAMINATI . One of the Company’s largest investment projects in recent years was dedicated to the construction of a waste treatment system that adopts catalytic oxidation processes. It is technologically the most advanced system available and the first to be adopted in Europe. ABET LAMINATI research concentrates in particular on the search for solutions that minimise the environmental impact of its products. The most recent and encouraging results are those of Tefor, the first recyclable laminate material. Abet Laminati produces it from the wastes of its high-pressure laminate.
The ABET LAMINATI policy is to assess continually the environmental impact of its products and production and work to reduce any environmentally negative aspect to an absolute minimum. All Print High Pressure Laminate is produced in Italy. The energy consumption for the manufacture of 1m2 of Print decorative laminate (0.9mm) is approximately 40MJ. Raw materials of 1.8 kg weight are required to produce 1 m2 of decorative laminate.
Print decorative laminate is used in the construction and furniture industry, usually bonded to a substrate such as chipboard or MDF. Waste either from the fabrication or demolition can be incinerated or disposed of in landfill. When incinerated high pressure laminate produces residual products comparable to the incineration of wood. The energy content of 1 kg of laminate is 20 MJ/kg, compared to the average of 13 MJ/kg for ordinary wood. In a landfill site, laminate is slowly degradable when combined with household or industrial waste.

ABET Ltd is delighted to announce achievement of the coveted ISO 14001 certification. ISO 14001 was first published in 1996 and specifies the actual requirements for an environmental management system. It applies to those environmental aspects over which the organization has control and can be expected to have an influence. Our certificate can be viewed here