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Sustainability in Practice: Cartiere Carrara’s Approach to Innovation, Efficiency and Local Communities

Mario Carrara, Vice President & Chief Growth Officer of Cartiere Carrara, took part in “Sustainability in Practice”, an event organised by ambiente s.r.l. at Beste Hub in Prato, where he shared the company’s approach to sustainability through concrete initiatives focused on industrial efficiency, responsible resource management and engagement with local communities.

Turning sustainability into tangible action that creates value for businesses, people and local communities was one of the key themes of “Sustainability in Practice”, an event that brought together companies and experts to exchange experiences and perspectives on how sustainability can be translated into practical business strategies.

During the panel dedicated to “Applied Sustainability and Local Communities”, Mario Carrara presented Cartiere Carrara’s sustainability journey and its approach to combining environmental responsibility, industrial innovation and a long-term commitment to the communities in which the company operates.

Efficiency and Innovation for a More Sustainable Industry

For an industrial company such as Cartiere Carrara, sustainability and efficiency are closely interconnected.

The company continues to improve its production processes through initiatives aimed at increasing the energy efficiency of its production sites, expanding self-generated energy, reducing water consumption and investing in industrial innovation.

Using less energy and water, optimising processes and making better use of resources not only helps reduce the environmental impact of manufacturing activities, but also contributes to building a more efficient, resilient and competitive industrial model for the long term.

Creating Value Together with Local Communities

At Cartiere Carrara, sustainability also means building strong relationships with local communities and contributing to the development of the areas in which the company operates.

This commitment takes shape through partnerships with schools, technical institutes and universities, educational initiatives supporting the development of future generations, reforestation projects, and support for social and cultural organisations.

These initiatives include the company’s support for the Meyer Foundation and the Teatro Cartiere Carrara in Florence, alongside the many partnerships developed over the years with institutions, associations and organisations across local communities.

This approach reflects the belief that a company does not operate in isolation, but is part of a wider ecosystem of people, skills, communities and territories with which it can build lasting relationships and create shared value.

Sustainability Means Planning for the Future

The event also provided an opportunity to reflect on the role businesses can play in building a more sustainable future.

For Cartiere Carrara, sustainability is above all about the ability to look ahead, invest in the future and take care of what comes next, turning environmental and social ambitions into tangible, long-term industrial choices.

This vision is embodied in the purpose that guides the company’s journey: Caring for What’s Next.

Taking care of what comes next means continuing to innovate, using resources increasingly responsibly, investing in people and contributing to the development of local communities — creating today the conditions to generate value for tomorrow.

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info@cartierecarrara.com

LANGUAGE: IT | EN

info@cartierecarrara.com

LANGUAGE: IT | EN

info@cartierecarrara.com

LANGUAGE: IT | EN

info@cartierecarrara.com

Polycyclic Plantations

In the area of Badia Pozzeveri, not far from our production hub in Capannori, we set up a series of continuous cycle plantations where trees and shrubs with different growth and cutting patterns coexist. They are constantly replanted after cutting, or grow back autonomously from shoots, thus guaranteeing constant natural coverage over time. From the eco-environmental standpoint, polycycle plantations requalify a flat area that used to have only residual agricultural value, improving the local habitat, regulating the absorption of rainwater, and conserving carbon stock in the soil.  

Natural polycyclic plantations are usually composed of an alternation of: 

  • Medium–long-cycle plants, cut at 15–40-year intervals from planting (hazelnut, cherry, oak, maple, ash, linden) for wood used as structural timber or for manufactured products.
  • Short-cycle plants, cut at 8–14-year intervals from planting (in particular poplar) for the production of paper or packaging.
  • Very short-cycle plants, cut at 6–7-year intervals from planting (e.g. plane) and used as firewood.
  • Shrubs that are not cut, and contribute to maintaining soil coverage.

 

This varied composition ensures that the different species are cut at different times, allowing any intervention to have a modest impact on the landscape and on the habitats created. Furthermore, the limited agricultural practices required by this management approach allow for preservation of the carbon stock in the soil, and avoid further aggravating global warming due to the massive repetition of tree cutting and replanting.

This type of planning and management of the woods – which includes the permanence of at least 30-40% of the trees after each cutting cycle – allows us to pair different productive species (namely those providing firewood, structural or construction timber, and wood for the production of cellulose) with the logic of permanent topsoil coverage and biodiversity protection.

The wood management method created by polycyclic plantations entails multiple benefits: productive, visual, bio-ecological benefits in terms of habitats for animal species (protecting local biodiversity), regulation of rainwater, and conservation of carbon stock in soil. All thanks to the limited cutting practices (and the permanence of a large part of the woods), which however supply local production chains, including those dedicated to poplar wood and to cellulose production for paper manufacturing.

Kilometroverde® - Lucca.

The Cartiere Carrara Group celebrates 150 years of history.

Kilometroverde® - Lucca.

The initiative was born in collaboration with Rete Clima, and consists of a 1-kilometre linear forestation project along the southern section of the A11 motorway between the exits of Lucca Est and Capannori, which runs along the company’s plants.
Trees and shrubs were planted on land that used to be bare, and a typical Tuscan forest was reconstituted to replace an existing, neo-formed woodland that had been of limited value for the forest and wider ecosystem. The area was repopulated with autochthonous species of trees and shrubs, reviving a forest type historically present in the Tuscan area but now significantly reduced due to agricultural activities and industrial sites that have developed on the land over time. This type of “linear plantation” is an innovative strategy for the area, intended to have a protective function and to mitigate local environmental impacts. Kilometroverde® Lucca will take on a triple function over time: physical and visual separation barrier between land and motorway; woodland (a true and proper green lung) able to capture the particulate pollutants produced by vehicular traffic (the well-known PM); and concrete tool for a strategy to develop natural continuity with existing sections of woods.
The positive impact of this intervention is not limited to the local territory: like all new forestation initiatives, Kilometroverde® – Lucca will allow us to increase the total absorption of CO2 and contribute to mitigating the effects of global warming.

Kilometroverde® – Lucca will be certified according to the PEFC standard for Sustainable Forest Management. .

The Cartiere Carrara Group celebrates 150 years of history.

With the acquisition of the Caldaroni Group, the Cartiere Carrara Group is born, paving the way for new growth and future goals.

The Carrara family’s activities are brought back together under the aegis of Cartiere Carrara S.p.A., thus unifying their resources and consolidating their position in the industry.

Mario Carrara’s branch of the family decides to resume the activities previously excluded from the 2002 transfer, starting from Cartiera Carma, of which it had always maintained exclusive ownership. With fresh new impetus, the family re-enters the professional and consumer tissue market.

The turn of the millennium brings new opportunities. Cartoinvest is sold to the multinational SCA.

Cartoinvest becomes the exclusive licensee of the Kleenex brand for Europe, thus confirming its leadership in the European tissue market.

The Cartoinvest Group is founded, and takes control of no less than twelve companies in Italy and in Europe, further strengthening their presence and influence in the industry.

The historical plant in Pietrabuona starts its first continuous machine for tissue paper, introducing remarkable technological innovations in the manufacturing process.

The Carrara family makes its debut in the paper manufacturing business, opening a paper mill in Pietrabuona to make straw paper.