Knowledge, technology and creativity. Bringing these values together as a system enables Made in Italy to rise to the challenge of sustainability, in its broadest sense encompassing society, the environment and the economy. In the city of the infinite, in Recanati in the province of Macerata, the headquarters of Fratelli Guzzini stands as an example of manufacturing production that, through aesthetic research and innovative experimentation, achieves environmental restoration and the creation of local employment.

With both feet firmly planted in a strong civic ethos and eyes fixed on a better future, the company uses post-consumer plastic to produce the Circle collection of objects and home and outdoor furnishing accessories. It is a concrete response to the need to reduce the use of resources derived from non-renewable sources and to stimulate the recovery of raw materials, in full application of the principles underpinning the circular economy. LifeGate interviews Maurizio Mezzelani, head of research and development in recycled materials at Guzzini.

Innovation, passion and colour. What are the distinctive features of Guzzini's Circle project?

Our commitment to the environment goes back a long way: as far back as 1987 we were among the promoters of the Design Memorandum, a document born out of dialogue between a group of scholars and theorists on the subject of design ethics in relation to the end-of-life impact of products. To help bring about a more natural economy, we decided to adopt the Circle work programme, which grew out of a desire to contribute to the environmental cause by giving new life to waste materials. Objects are no longer locked into the resource–transformation–use–waste chain, but become tools at the centre of the relationship between people and the environment, between use and reuse. The Circle programme stands out in the market thanks to the improved performance of the materials, which make the products suitable for food contact and resistant to thermal stress.

What drove you to use post-consumer plastic?

The need to divert large quantities of plastic from waste-to-energy incineration or, worse still, from landfill disposal, and, conversely, the possibility of easily accessing — with low environmental impact, through mechanical recycling — "new" resources as alternatives to conventional fossil-based ones, for the manufacture of new products.

Why recycled plastic specifically — what are the advantages?

Fratelli Guzzini processes recycled thermoplastic resin granules from other companies. It can be stated that the processing of a thermoplastic polymer, which takes place at temperatures between 190 and 270°C, is decidedly less impactful than the processing of other widely used recycled materials, such as glass and steel, which require temperatures above 1,000°C, or aluminium, above 600°C. This holds true from the perspective of global warming, the depletion of fossil and natural element sources, water scarcity and the eutrophication of seas and lakes, ozone layer thinning, ocean acidification, and so on.

How important was attention to circular design and the beauty of recovery in creating Guzzini's Circle project? And, going even deeper, how significant is the adoption of systems thinking that envisages the disappearance of waste and the continuous re-introduction of the manufactured product into the production cycle?

The purpose of the Circle programme is precisely to promote circular design objects and to adopt a set of behavioural standards that allow environmental conditions to improve, keeping firmly in mind the goal of respecting and regenerating natural resources.

How important is corporate social responsibility — particularly that of Made in Italy — in the process of strengthening the bond between people and nature and of fostering symbiotic development between business and research?

Work has long been under way to establish networks to reduce the transport distances for waste destined for recycling and, above all, to ensure that waste from one production process can serve as a resource for another locally. In this context, our company's active involvement in establishing a regional laboratory, Marlic, fits in very well. Here, experiences, knowledge and needs from various industrial sectors of the region converge, alongside different research and scientific culture organisations linked to national institutes such as Enea and Cnr and, of course, to university hubs with areas of expertise ranging from chemistry to biology to engineering. Among its other objectives, the laboratory has set itself the task of mapping the availability and type of waste produced within the production cycle of businesses in the Marche region.

After all, consumers are increasingly attentive to purchasing products made with respect for the environment…

For some years now, particularly in light of the specific historical moment we find ourselves in, consumers have been paying ever greater attention to purchasing products made with respect for the environment. Everyone is called upon to play their part in protecting the planet.

Does the circular economy model therefore have a positive impact on business growth and local development?

The secondary raw materials market has existed for decades as an economical alternative to that of virgin materials. In recent years, however, the renewed environmental awareness — stirred and stimulated by various transnational opinion movements — has offered a valid opportunity to revive this market. During 2021, in fact, the sharp spike in the price of all raw materials and their scarcity are accelerating the shift from a linear economy to a circular model in which, of necessity, it is easier to source production resources through effective recycling of a large proportion of the waste generated by our affluent societies.

If you had to sum up the Circle project in three words, what would they be?

Reduce, reuse and recycle.