EFFIGE‘s mission
Italian companies measure their environmental footprint with EFFIGE, the new project funded by the LIFE Unit of the European Commission under the 2016 call.
European surveys and national studies show how the market demands more sustainable products. The Life EFFIGE project is designed to meet this need through the adoption of PEF Product Environmental Footprint, a method of computing the environmental footprint of products and services promoted by the European Commission with the Recommendation 179/2013.
EFFIGE, experiences this method in four manufacturing sectors – foundries, furniture, agro-food and catering – involving many companies in this business. The companies participating in the project will also be involved in improving the environmental footprint of their products and services by planning strategic actions aimed to create more sustainable products and features that can make them more competitive.
EFFIGE is also aimed to develop new tools for the implementation of PEF in small and medium-sized businesses, helping them to experiment innovative approaches and methods that make them more competitive.
The project partners will work on a “dual track”: on the one hand, the scientific activities of the environmental footprint calculation, on the other hand, will engage in the definition of methods and tools to better communicate the environmental footprint of products, making them so more competitive on the current market.
The initiative has been promoted by the Institute of Management of the Higher School Sant’Anna, which plays the role of coordinator and technical partner of the project. Along with Sant’Anna, the technical activities will be followed by Enea, the National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development. In addition to the two technical partners, EFFIGE has five organizations representing the before mentioned sectors: Agrica and Consorzio Agrituristico Mantovano “Verdi Terre d’Acqua”, for the agro-food industry, Assofond in the Italian foundries, Federlegno Arredo, in the furniture sector and CAMST in catering. These five organizations will help many Italian companies implement PEF and be “pilot experiences” of eco-innovation and competitiveness. The distinctive element of the project is, in fact, the synergy between companies, academia and associative and consortium.
The project will see the partners engaged with both Italian and European companies that will experience the tools and methodologies developed through EFFIGE to assess the effectiveness even outside the national borders, making EFFIGE also an opportunity for companies outside of ‘ Italy.