Innovation, a driver of continuous improvement

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Innovation helps us develop new products and technologies, processes and business models which are more efficient and effective in protecting the environment. Thanks to our continuous research and investments, we design our new products and reformulate existing collections to continue to improve their environmental impact and ensure the health and safety of those who manufacture them and those who use them.

A story of beauty and quality, research and experimentation, product and process innovation, which have also marked fundamental milestones in the industrial history of ceramics: tunnel kilns; the first stoneware; the first cooperation with top designers; the patent for single-firing, the revolutionary process that fires the tile body and glaze together, still the world’s most widely used ceramic covering manufacturing technology. Not to mention the first large-sized tile and the first high technical strength product, which extended the locations in which ceramics could be used for building facades and urban pavements; research into colour, and finally the interpretation of natural materials in the latest stonewares, which are more sustainable than the originals.

Ranges with High Recycled Material Content

We have created new solutions to combine ever-greater quantities of recycled material with the raw materials used, without affecting quality. Most of our product lines are now manufactured using between 30% and 40% recycled material. The use of recycled materials in every production process reduces the use and transportation of virgin raw materials, limits the production of waste and plays an active role in earning LEED® credits in the Materials and Resources category.

The LEED® guidelines award points for the use of materials with recycled content.

LEED® Certification

The Voluntary LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification is the most widespread international protocol for green building and sustainable architecture promoted by the U.S Green Building Council.

It is a rating system structured into nine categories, each of which is organised into mandatory prerequisites and credits determined by the characteristics of the project. Thanks to the environmental quality of the entire industrial production cycle, all Marazzi’s ceramic and porcelain stoneware products are eligible for LEED® credits for buildings, in particular for thematic areas related to Materials and Resources (MR), Sustainable Site (SS) and Indoor Environmental Quality (EQ).

Environmental Product Declaration (EPD)

The Environmental Product Declaration (EPD), conducted in accordance with ISO 14025 and EN 15804, documents the consumption of resources (materials, water, energy) and impacts on the surrounding environment throughout the lifecycle of a product, from the mining and processing of the raw materials through to processing/disposal/recycling of the demolition products. Our Casiglie, Ubersetto, Sassuolo, Finale Emilia and Fiorano Modenese sites publish the EPD for the tiles produced there.

The product impacts are assessed through an LCA (Life Cycle Assessment), conducted in accordance with the ISO 14040 series of international standards, and are published in the EPD, contributing to the attainment of LEED certification credits.

Health Product Declaration

Transparency about the raw materials of natural origin we use to make our products is a priority for us. This is why we publish our Health Product Declaration (HPD): a self-declaration on the chemical composition of the product, managed by the non-profit HPD Collaborative, which allows users to assess the degree and type of hazard associated with individual components of construction products. The importance of the HPD is also recognised through LEED® credits.

Declare Label

Declare is a voluntary self-declaration programme that aims to steer the building materials industry towards healthier, more eco-friendly products through transparent ingredient disclosure. Declare® Red List Free products offer total transparency.

The “Red List” of the Living Building Challenge, an international sustainable building certification programme created in 2006 by the non-profit International Living Future Institute, lists the materials, chemicals and elements which represent serious risks to human health and for the ecosystem, and which are prevalent in the construction products industry. All our products are classified as “Red List Free”, i.e. they do not contain chemicals which pollute the environment, no chemicals which bioaccumulate in the food chain to toxic concentrations, and no chemicals harmful to production and construction workers.