march 01 2019
Sustainability

T

RIOPELE, THE BRIGHT GREEN EXAMPLE

Associated since birth, in 1927, to the colour green, Riopele continues to relate to the colour by betting on sustainability and circular economy.

The company, one of Portugal’s textile giants, was chosen as the standard-bearer of the Famalicão Circular – The industry’s new frontiers meeting, where the company’s head of innovation, Albertina Reis, highlighted the many products created and patented by the company throughout almost a century, emphasizing their close cooperation with technology centres and universities.

Nano Smart and R4Textiles were the most recent projects, which in collaboration with CITEVE, CeNTI and the Catholic University, allowed new textiles to be developed. The Cleon ®, a breathable, static energy absorbent and stain repellent fabric, or the Tenowa, a sustainable textile produced from food waste that is already in the market, are some examples.

Despite being unfinished, says Albertina Reis, these projects under development should already represent a half million euros business for the company, but the goal is that by 2022, they will represent 7% of Riopele’s turnover.

However, the company doesn’t slow down and it’s also investing one million euros in the construction of a photovoltaic solar plant, thus reinforcing its policy of sustainable production and environmental responsibility. This investment will allow a 14% saving on energy bills and an annual reduction of 689 tonnes of CO2 emissions.

Located in Castelões, Famalicão, the power station will produce a significant percentage of the electrical energy required for one of the group’s spinning production units.

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