SCARPA strengthens its sustainable commitment
Energy only from renewable sources and a group of Sustainability Ambassadors in the company among the first initiatives of the new “Green Manifesto”.
SCARPA, a leading Italian company in the production of mountaineering and outdoor footwear, launches today its “Green Manifesto”, a programmatic commitment that enunciates the company’s sustainable principles and concretizes them in new initiatives, aimed at aligning SCARPA’s activity to the best international standards.
The first actions have already been taken this year: 100% of the staff at the Italian headquarters in Asolo (Tv) has been trained on sustainable innovation issues, and a group of 16 Sustainability Ambassadors, distributed in every company function, is now available to employees for any question regarding sustainability. A similar project is also being studied with regard to offices located abroad.
Moreover, from January 2020, 100% of the electricity used in Italy will come from certified renewable sources, making it possible to neutralise the production of around 1000 tonnes of CO2 each year. A commitment that will be reinforced, starting from the beginning of 2021, with the exclusive use of energy from low-impact plant biomass. Added to this is the saving in emissions already obtained thanks to the photovoltaic systems installed on SCARPA’s headquarters, which will be renewed and expanded in the coming months.
These are the first initiatives of a program that will make SCARPA more and more at the forefront of sustainable practices, also through the launch of new highly eco-friendly products in 2021. The starting point is the values on which the company has built its success, which the “Green Manifesto” now makes explicit through a new interpretation of the acronym S.C.A.R.P.A, which also becomes an acrostic.
“S” stands for Sustainability, underlining the imperative that SCARPA, a company that has always lived in the mountains and in nature, wants to set itself by adhering to the best international standards and by setting concrete and measurable objectives.
“C” symbolizes instead Care, first of all intended as the care with which SCARPA shoes are made, avoiding programmed obsolescence and also offering resoling services to give products a second life. The fact that about 60% of the production takes place in Italy allows us to minimize the impacts associated with logistic movements, and ensures the application of high standards of management and quality.
Air is the word associated with the first “A”: on the one hand because the company’s vocation is the outdoors, the open air, an active but at the same time contemplative lifestyle; on the other hand to highlight the commitment to minimize its emissions harmful to the environment.
“R” for Respect, obviously intended as respect for nature, but also as the foundation of coexistence among human beings: therefore, knowing and respecting the rules, adopting the best quality standards, certifying excellence. SCARPA is one of the rare companies in the footwear world to produce more than 85% of its products in its own factories, and most of this in Europe. This allows direct and punctual control over the social and environmental practices adopted, with particular attention also to the health and safety of workers.
“P” for Performance, underlines SCARPA’s passion for the creation of highly innovative and avant-garde products, testified by the considerable investments in Research and Development (about 5% of the turnover). An innovative thrust that the company wants to turn more and more to finding eco-sustainable production methods and materials, following the example of Pebax Rnew, the totally biological and recyclable material that SCARPA was the first to use in its ski mountaineering boots.
Finally, the second “A” recalls the value of Authenticity, i.e. the desire to be transparent, without filters, the strength of a long journey – started over 80 years ago – in which the company has built its uniqueness and a sincere relationship with partners, athletes and customers.
In addition to summarizing these values, SCARPA’s “Green Manifesto” also wants to represent a declaration of intent for the future, a standard to which the company wishes to adhere and be responsible to the world.
“For us, this manifesto is an awareness of what SCARPA is today, in order to imagine what SCARPA will be tomorrow,” explains President Sandro Parisotto. “Since always, living in the mountains, we have spontaneously developed a culture of respect for the environment and now we want to give it a more defined structure, so that our values can be transformed into a concrete and effective contribution to the custody of nature and the well-being of society.”
