Tag: Sustainability

Industry5.0 – The Imperative of Sustainability in Manufacturing

Posted on | by Marta Re Ferrè
Not just an ethical considerations but a value for success. Sustainable production as an opportunity for producers to differentiate themselves in the current market.

 

Manufacturing Group, School of Management

 

Nowadays, the manufacturing industry stands at a critical crossroads where environmental sustainability is no longer just a buzzword but a must have. The imperative for sustainable practices in manufacturing goes beyond ethical considerations; it directly impacts financial viability, brand image, and regulatory compliance. As global awareness of environmental issues intensifies, stakeholders across the manufacturing sector are recognizing that sustainable practices are not just optional but essential for long-term success.

The financial case for environmental sustainability was initially perceived as a cost burden, instead, the sustainable practices, are now recognized as drivers of cost savings and operational efficiency. By reducing energy consumption, minimizing waste generation, and optimizing resource utilization, manufacturers can significantly lower their operating expenses. Investments in renewable energy sources, energy-efficient technologies, and waste reduction initiatives often lead to substantial long-term cost savings, enhancing profitability and competitiveness.

Moreover, sustainable manufacturing practices, like the adoption of circular economy strategies, mitigate financial risks associated with volatile resource prices and regulatory uncertainty. As the costs of raw materials and energy continue to fluctuate, companies that embrace sustainability are better positioned to weather market fluctuations and maintain stable production costs. Additionally, forward-thinking investors are increasingly factoring environmental performance into their decision-making processes, making sustainability initiatives attractive for capital investment and fostering sustainable growth.

In today’s socially conscious marketplace, brand image plays a key role in consumer perceptions and purchasing decisions. Companies that demonstrate a commitment to environmental sustainability not only attract environmentally conscious consumers but also enhance brand loyalty and reputation. Adopting sustainable manufacturing practices not only mitigates environmental impact but also shields companies from reputational damage and potential boycotts. By aligning their brand with values of corporate responsibility, manufacturers can differentiate themselves in the market and cultivate a positive brand image for both consumers and stakeholders. Indeed, companies that prioritize sustainability not only reap financial rewards through cost savings and operational efficiency but also enhance brand loyalty, mitigate reputational risks, and stay ahead of regulatory requirements.

Governments around the world are enacting increasingly stringent environmental regulations to address climate change, pollution, and resource depletion. From emissions standards to waste management regulations, manufacturers are facing a complex web of environmental mandates that necessitate proactive compliance measures. Failure to adhere to these regulations can result in costly fines, legal liabilities, and operational disruptions.

However, regulatory compliance is not just about avoiding penalties; it presents an opportunity for manufacturers to stay ahead of the curve and gain a competitive advantage. Furthermore, staying abreast of evolving regulations enables manufacturers to anticipate future compliance challenges and adapt their operations accordingly, ensuring long-term viability and resilience in an increasingly regulated environment.

As the manufacturing industry continues to evolve in response to global environmental challenges, embracing sustainability is not just a matter of responsibility; it is a strategic imperative for long-term success and resilience, it can position companies as industry leaders and let them gain preferential treatment from regulators, customers, and investors.

A sustainable-driven engine is especially relevant for the Italian manufacturing domain characterized by medium and small realities facing different challenges in pursuing such a transition due to limited financial capital, lack of skills, and lack of adequate infrastructure. Being aware about this challenging context, the Manufacturing Group of the School of Management of Politecnico di Milano aims at boosting the sustainable and circular transition of manufacturing companies by transferring the scientific knowledge generated in both national and international research projects into the industrial domain. To provide a complete support by covering the several aspects characterizing the transition, different but specific assessment methodologies have been developed.

Manufacturing companies can be supported in identifying the circular practices to be established internally to the company and externally by collaborating with external entities based on their strategic goals and current operations. Moreover, they could easily identify the set of data needed to establish such circular practices and chose the proper suppliers evaluating their sustainable oriented performances. Among all, considering the lack of skills perceived, the research group support companies in measuring this perception by mapping the skills and job profiles available internally to the company to identify proper training paths focused on circularity of sustainability dimensions.

 

Sustainability and health aspects in the development of the agri-food sector in Africa

Posted on | by Marta Re Ferrè

The course of IHEA foundation organised by the Politecnico di Milano was concluded at Addis Ababa

 

The intensive course “Sustainability and health aspects in the development of selected value chains of the agri-food sector in Ethiopia”, promoted by Fondazione IHEA – Italian Higher Education with Africa and organized by the Politecnico di Milano in collaboration with the Department of Animal Medicine, Production and Health of the Università di Padova and the College of Veterinary Medicine and Agriculture of the Addis Abeba University, was concluded at Addis Ababa.

The course provided PhD students, young researchers and professionals with an integrated training on the role of agri-food section in sub-Saharan Africa, with a particular focus on the Ethiopian context, the importance of innovation and entrepreneurship, and aspects of food safety and animal health for the development of global value chains.

Federica Ciccullo, professor at the Department of Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering, Niso Randellini, PhD student, and Sandra Cesari de Maria, project manager at Food Sustainability Lab, collaborated for the Politecnico di Milano.

 

Transforming agrifood value chains: the Ploutos Sustainable Innovation Framework

Posted on | by Marta Re Ferrè | Leave a Comment on Transforming agrifood value chains: the Ploutos Sustainable Innovation Framework

 

After three years of dedicated work, the Ploutos project, funded under the Horizon 2020 programme, successfully concluded in September 2023.

 

This initiative was designed to reshape the agri-food value chain, with a primary focus on fostering the transition towards more sustainable systems.

At its core, the project aimed to develop a Sustainable Innovation Framework (SIF) that took a systemic approach to the agri-food sector, leveraging on three key innovation streams: sustainable collaborative business model innovation, data-driven technology innovation and behavioural innovation.

To put theory into practice, the project realised 11 innovation pilots, representing a diverse array of ecosystems across 13 different countries. Adopting a multi-actor approach, these SIPs engaged various stakeholders to implement, test, and assess new innovative solutions and methodologies, including the SIF. In this process, practical insights and valuable lessons were derived, contributing to the continuous transformation of agri-food systems.

The Ploutos SIF was developed by a team of researchers from the Food Sustainability Lab of the School of Management of Politecnico di Milano led by Prof. Raffaella Cagliano. The initial version of the framework was designed at the early stages of the project based on theories and frameworks from the academic and grey literature, which were evaluated together with a panel of experts (representatives of the agrifood sector, universities and research centres, and government organisations). This preliminary version was then enhanced through an iterative cycle encompassing application, evaluation, and refinement, conducted together with the pilots and the experts. In addition to this, a set a practical recommendations and hands-on tools was developed, making the application of the SIF easily replicable.

According to the Ploutos SIF, the innovation process in the agrifood sector starts with the forming phase and is driven by a combination of supply push (e.g., policies), market pull (e.g., changes in consumers’ preferences) and technology push (e.g., introduction of more sustainable agri-food technologies).

The actual process starts when multiple actors come together and agree on a common mission. During this phase, an initial understanding of the changes needed in terms of business models, technologies and behaviours is developed. Integration of the three innovation streams is of paramount importance since sustainability is a systems-level problem that cannot be addressed with siloed approaches.

The second stage of the innovation process, called baseline assessment, requires defining clear sustainability priorities, identifying relevant key performance indicators linked to such priorities and assessing the baseline sustainability performance.

Focusing on the core of the process, the innovation phase, the SIF suggests following an iterative sequence of “understand – define – ideate – prototype – evaluate” to be performed for each innovation stream. One should start from the business model and develop a preliminary version that provides clear answers to questions such as: “How are resources procured and transformed to deliver value?”, “How do products or services meet customer needs and respond to societal challenges?”, “Who are the critical partners and collaborators in value creation?”.

Once a promising business model has been ideated, resources can be allocated to the technological innovation. Key aspects of technological innovations for the agrifood sector include data sharing principles (i.e., ensuring that data are not used against the farmers), interoperability (i.e., connecting different smart farming devices, databases, and information systems), and integration of different technologies, such as traceability systems and carbon credit platforms, to tap into additional revenue streams.

The new business model and the technological innovation will then trigger behavioural interventions to ensure they are successfully adopted. Behavioural innovations can be very wide in scope, going from technology adoption to consumer empowerment and creation of resilient ecosystems.

Solutions developed in each stream are then improved and fine-tuned through iterative cycles until the innovation process is completed.

The last phase of the SIF is the final evaluation that allows to assess the contribution of the proposed innovations to the key sustainability priorities.

The Ploutos SIF was followed by all the 11 pilots and allowed to achieve or even exceed most of the targets set by the pilots, proving to be an effective and easy-to-apply framework for a wide spectrum of agrifood innovations.

Muspell project to pioneer next-gen thermal energy storage system

Posted on | by Marta Re Ferrè | Leave a Comment on Muspell project to pioneer next-gen thermal energy storage system

3.5m eu grant to develop innovative energy management solution for more sustainable future

 

The consortium comprising of Swisspod Technologies, EURAC Research, Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems, the National Institute of Chemistry in Slovenia, the Politecnico di Milano and the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya has received a €3.5M Pathfinder grant by the European Innovation Council (EIC): €3.1 million by the European Commission, supplemented by an additional €400,000 contribution from the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research, and Innovation (SERI).

The funding will drive the development of the Muspell project, a novel, state-of-the-art Thermal Energy Storage System (TESS) — an important component of a sustainable and reliable energy system. The project has commenced in October 2023 and is set to span a duration of 4 years.

Muspell aims to introduce to the market a more efficient mid-to-long term TESS, transcending the limitations of current available systems. By adopting an innovative approach grounded in material research, the consortium sets out to engineer a compact, highly flexible and modular system that offers increased energy density and seamless integration of heat-pump capabilities. The novel TESS will unlock new avenues of application across energy-intensive industries — from manufacturing, textile, food processing, and construction materials, to transportation, energy and environmental services industries.

A TESS allows for efficient storage and usage of thermal energy, providing flexibility, energy management, cost savings, as well as environmental benefits as it can integrate renewable energy sources. The operation of this system involves receiving thermal energy input from various sources like waste/excess heat, solar thermal collectors, electricity, and storing it in a suitable medium, such as a thermo-chemical or a phase-change material. When the stored energy is needed, the TESS transfers it to the desired application at the required temperature level.

This groundbreaking initiative aligns with multiple Sustainable Development Goals, facilitating access to clean energy while simultaneously mitigating the carbon footprint associated with various industries. By emphasizing material development and optimization, as well as system level innovation, the project is committed to achieving high performance while minimizing environmental impact to the greatest extent possible.

The novel TESS will also serve as a cutting-edge thermal battery, enabling the efficient capture, storage, and usage of waste heat generated during industrial processes. Thus, the system not only curtails energy waste, but also mitigates the environmental impact associated with greenhouse gas emissions.

The Politecnico di Milano leverages its expertise in innovation and technology management to prioritize energy efficiency, technological assessment, and renewable solutions for the industrial sector. In collaboration with Swisspod and EURAC Research, we are going to conduct interviews and gather market insights on the application scenarios of TESS, while analyzing the system’s integration into a broader ecosystem.

“Polimi considers it extremely important to perform an analysis on the potential markets of the technology that Consortium is going to develop. The activity aims at analyzing technological and economic fit of the TESS in different application sectors as well as evaluating its environmental and economic impacts.”

explained Simone Franzò, Assistant Professor at Politecnico di Milano.

RITESSERE: silk by-product reborn into new materials

Posted on | by Marta Re Ferrè | Leave a Comment on RITESSERE: silk by-product reborn into new materials

Recovering sericin to produce high-tech materials, in a circular economy perspective

 

The RITESSERE (Silk Sericin materials from textile industry by-products) project has kicked off, and it aims to use the by-product from the treatment of raw silk, sericin, for the production of new materials and devices in the field of life sciences.

RITESSERE will evaluate new technologies which, starting from the sericin obtained from raw material of Italian origin with traceability certification (cocoon or raw silk), will lead to the obtainment of both two-dimensional electrospun matrices composed only of sericin, and new materials based on specifically modified sericin. These products will be characterized from a chemical-physical and morphological point of view, and the impact of their introduction on the textile industry market and on other high-tech sectors will be analysed.

In particular, the advantages of the circular approach will be demonstrated through three actions:

  • sericin-based facial masks for the cosmetic industry
  • three-dimensional scaffolds of sericin for cell culture
  • modified sericin-based film for the packaging industry.

RITESSERE aims to demonstrate how sericin can be systematically recovered and used to produce high-tech materials. Starting from silk of Italian origin, RITESSERE will define and optimize a technological process aimed at giving nobility to this waste product, proposing a new sustainable and circular method for the silk production cycle.

The results of the project will also be conveyed and made available through continuous interaction with the Advisory Board, made up of players with a driving role in the silk industry, in the definition of new circular economy practices and in the involvement of civil society (Associazione Costruttori Italiani di Macchinario per l’Industria Tessile, Donne in Campo, Ufficio Italiano Seta, MADE-Competence Center Industria 4.0, Rigano Laboratories, Associazione per il Museo della Seta di Como).

The three-year project RITESSERE is a project funded by Fondazione Cariplo with the Economia Circolare – Promuovere ricerca per un futuro sostenibile program, and is led by professors Paolo Rosa and Sergio Terzi of the Department of Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering and by Professor Simone Vesentini of the Department of Electronics, Information and Bioengineering of the Politecnico di Milano.

The Department of Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering, will deal with the economic analyzes of the sericin market, the silk sector and the current circular strategies adopted in the textile sector.

Partners in the project, coordinated by our university, are Università degli Studi Milano Bicocca and Consiglio per la ricerca in agricoltura e l’analisi dell’economia agraria (Council for Agricultural Research and Agricultural Economics Analysis).

Ploutos: re-balancing the value chain in the agri-food system

Posted on | by Beatrice Grillo | Leave a Comment on Ploutos: re-balancing the value chain in the agri-food system
Through data-driven technologies, collaborative business models and behavioural changes the project aims to make agri-food value chains more environmentally, socially and economically sustainable.

 

Agrifood systems are currently facing many interlinked challenges including the increasing world population, changes in climate conditions, the deterioration of natural resources and power imbalances along the value chain. The complexity of such challenges and the strong interconnection among stages of the supply chain imply the need to adopt innovative and systemic approaches, which can unlock the potential of the agrifood system to provide economic, environmental and social benefits. Innovative approaches must combine different forms of innovation: technological, organisational, social and institutional. Instead, systemic approaches require different actors across the agrifood value chain to cooperate with each other in the (re)design of more sustainable food systems.

Identifying, implementing and testing such innovative integrated approaches is the aim of Ploutos, a research and innovation project funded under the Horizon 2020 programme. The project, coordinated by the Greek organisation GAIA Epicherein, started in October 2020 and is now in its third and last year of execution.

The School of Management of Politecnico di Milano is one of the core partners of the project thanks to the deep knowledge about agrifood systems developed within the Food Sustainability and Smart Agrifood Observatories. The research team, led by Prof. Raffaella Cagliano, is primarily involved in the development of a framework for sustainability-oriented innovation that combines behavioural innovation, collaborative business model innovation and data driven technologies. This framework is currently being applied in 11 pilots covering a large variety of agri-food ecosystems across 13 countries. The design and implementation of innovative approaches follow a multi-actor approach and is supported by the “Ploutos Innovation Academy”, a virtual Academy where stakeholders are engaged in the co-design of innovative solutions and have access to a series of good practices regarding the sustainability of agri-food value chains.

The last year of the project officially started in October 2022, when the Ploutos Consortium met in presence at the premises of the Department of Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering. More than 50 representatives from 33 organisations gathered in Milan on October 4-5 to share the results achieved so far and to plan the activities for the last year ahead.

During the meeting, the 11 Sustainable Innovation Pilots (SIPs) had the opportunity to showcase the results of their work. The innovations they are developing revolve around some key aspects that are shaping agrifood value chains: smart farming solutions, traceability and data sharing, reduction of food waste, consumer empowerment, climate change adaptation through carbon farming and parametric insurance, and synergies between agriculture and tourism.

Smart farming and traceability solutions play a central role for many SIPs. For example, SIP1 has launched a traceability app that is currently used by actors operating in a frozen fruit value chain in Greece to retrieve all the information about the product, from crop inputs to process packaging operations. With respect to food waste, SIP9 has developed a platform that connects businesses with frontline charities and community groups to streamline surplus food donations. A total of 150 stakeholders from Serbia and North Macedonia has been onboarded and the solution allowed to redistribute more than 80,000 kg of surplus food through more than 50 realized donations. To reward farmers who adopt carbon sequestration practices, SIP8 and SIP10 are working on the development of a system to calculate and trace carbon credits, tradable certificates quantifying the amount of carbon sequestrated and stored in the soil. “Without agriculture, there is no tourism” is the motto of SIP11, which is seeking to strengthen the collaboration between the agriculture and the tourism sectors in the Balearic Islands by promoting experiences designed around local varieties and products. An example is the organisation of guided tours to admire the almond trees in bloom, an important tourist attraction.

Regardless of the specific focus of each pilot, some important conclusions can be drawn from the experiences collected in Ploutos so far.

First, combining different forms of innovations prove to be key in the adoption and scale-up of sustainability-oriented innovations. Even a very useful and well-designed digital solution may be ignored if rational/non-rational reasons influencing technology adoption are overlooked, or if the business model is poorly designed. The strong interdependence among the three pillars of innovations (technology, business models and behaviours) leads to important research questions currently under investigation: what element triggers the innovation journey of the pilots and how is the process unfolding? Providing answers to these questions will be among the research priorities of the POLIMI team over the last year of the project.

Finally, a long-term win-win relationship must be established among actors of the value chain as more competitive and resilient food system can be achieved only if the stakeholders collaborate effectively towards common sustainability objectives.

 

Green SUIte – the sustainability project involving more than 60 teams from 5 organisations – comes to an end

Posted on | by Beatrice Grillo | Leave a Comment on Green SUIte – the sustainability project involving more than 60 teams from 5 organisations – comes to an end
Agos, Enercom Group, Sparkasse, Tea Group and the School of Management of Politecnico di Milano, supported by the Startup Intelligence Observatory, have promoted virtuous sustainable behaviours inside and outside of the business world.

 

Green SUIte, the environmental conservation initiative with which employees from Agos, Enercom Group, Sparkasse, Tea Group and the School of Management of Politecnico di Milano have activated virtuous sustainable behaviours with support from Up2You, the innovative B Corp certified start-up that develops customised solutions to help businesses become carbon neutral, has come to a successful conclusion.

The project, born from an idea conceived by Agos and Up2You during one of the round table sessions at the eighth edition of the Startup Intelligence Observatory organised by the School of Management of Politecnico di Milano, has attracted more than 600 users who, in recent months, have committed to performing daily tasks aimed at raising awareness and effectively protecting the environment. Out of a total of more than 19 thousand missions, 96% were completed successfully, with participants performing an average of 32 actions each. The favourite topics were the reduction of food waste and plastic and energy consumption. Thanks to the wide uptake, around 40,000 kg of carbon dioxide have been saved, 100 new trees have been planted and 50,000 kg of carbon dioxide have been neutralised.

On 3 May, in the presence of representatives from the companies involved in the contest, the award ceremony was held at the Politecnico di Milano, with participation from around 60 employees in person at the event and another 100 connected remotely. In line with the initiative’s green vocation, all of the awards given to the winners were rewarding sustainability; from individual recognitions such as the Carbon Neutral year, capable of neutralising travel emissions and food consumption with certified projects aimed at preserving ecosystems, to team recognitions such as the zero-emissions videocalls with colleagues and customers and promocodes to incentivise forestation in Italy and throughout the world.

Green SUIte has thus further enhanced the already strong partnership between large Italian companies and start-ups, to the advantage of the entire Italian innovative ecosystem, and has fostered Open Innovation within the national economic fabric, demonstrating that collaboration brings concrete and widespread benefits.

 

P.E.A.S: the app for measuring the environmental impact of fashion

Posted on | by Beatrice Grillo | Leave a Comment on P.E.A.S: the app for measuring the environmental impact of fashion
An intelligent system that integrates social and environmental traceability of garments with gamification: P.E.A.S – Product Environmental Accountability System is an innovative project created thanks to the support of Regione Lombardia, theSchool of Management of Politecnico di Milano, the companies MOOD, 1TrueID and WWG, in collaboration with WRÅD

 

A new frontier in the field of communication for sustainability in the fashion and clothing sector, P.E.A.S. technology not only makes it easy for everyone to view information on the origin and impact of our clothes but, thanks to an algorithm, it is also able to tell us how much the initial environmental cost of what we wear is amortised over time thanks to our love and use – thus incentivising, with a game, its long-term use.

“Every second, the equivalent of a lorry load of clothes is either burnt or dumped. The social and environmental problems caused by the fashion industry stem from the fact that we have all been induced to emotionally disconnect ourselves from the clothes we buy” states Matteo Ward, CEO of WRÅD and initial creator of P.E.A.S. “For years we have all been reminded of the importance of loving our clothes and living in them for a long time in order to have a positive impact on the environment, but little, if anything, has changed – quite the contrary! This resulted in the need to create P.E.A.S., a smart game to counteract the overproduction and overconsumption of clothes in an innovative way”.

P.E.A.S. technology offers customers the chance to connect with their clothes through their smartphone, to interact with them and to monitor in real time how much of a concrete positive impact the way we wear them can have on their environmental footprint. To do this, P.E.A.S. develops and processes scientific data obtained, for this first pilot project, thanks to a Life Cycle Assessment, carried out by the Process Factory company, which calculated the environmental impact of all the production steps necessary to transform a tuft of cotton into a sweatshirt. An analysis of the production chain, tracked in a blockchain with reduced energy consumption, which therefore produced a snapshot of the environmental cost of the product with respect to 13 different areas of impact, from climate change to water consumption. P.E.A.S. uses and processes these to help us understand the real value of the sweatshirt and to inspire us to use it for a long time.

At each interaction with its users, P.E.A.S. recognises how long the sweatshirt has been used for, provides updates on the relative dilution of its environmental cost, rewards virtuous behaviour linked to its use and rewards, the most important of these being the radically revolutionary choice not to have abandoned it. On average, in the world, an item of clothing is thrown away once it has been used only 7 times. This consumption is excessive, and incompatible with any kind of contemporary sustainable development strategy. It must be countered.

This is the common goal that motivated this unique partnership between the Politecnico di Milano School of Management, the companies Mood, 1TrueID and WWG and WRÅD, united in their diversity of skills and functions by the desire to take the relationship between people and clothes to a new level of connection, for the good of society and the planet.

“The results of our scientific research on the causes of non-sustainability in the fashion and luxury system show that it is impossible to achieve long-term sustainability goals without the active contribution of all stakeholders. To think that the responsibility for change lies with one specific link in the fashion supply chain is wrong and is also potentially counterproductive. With P.E.A.S., for the first time we have made an attempt to bring together all the parties in the sector, from fashion brands to suppliers upstream in the chain, to the end customer. Only with a responsible and collaborative attitude will it be possible to change the pace and achieve ambitious results in a short time” (Alessandro Brun, Full Professor of Quality Management and Supply Management, Politecnico di Milano School of Management).

P.E.A.S. is a technology that aims to cater for both companies, with customisable designs and applications, and, in the future, the general public. “It can only be called innovation when it is sustainable and has a positive impact on people, communities and our environment” (Mohamed Deramchi, CEO and founder of WWG).

The project was supported by Regione Lombardia through the Fashiontech call for applications, a measure that supports research and development projects aimed at achieving innovation in the “Textiles, fashion and accessories” sector, according to the principle of sustainability, from an environmental, economic and social point of view.

Presenting Green SUIte: a sustainability challenge involving 60 corporate teams

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Agos, Gruppo Enercom, Sparkasse, Gruppo Tea and the Politecnico di Milano School of Management, backed by the Startup Intelligence Observatory, are promoting and rewarding virtuous behaviour inside and outside the company, in collaboration with the Up2You startup. 

 

Green SUIte is an environmental challenge – organised in collaboration with Up2You, an innovative start-up and B Corp certified company that promotes sustainable development – involving the employees of Agos, Gruppo Enercom, Sparkasse, Gruppo Tea and the Politecnico di Milano School of Management with a view to raising awareness, educating participants, and triggering a virtuous, sustainable conduct.

The project springs from an idea developed by Agos and Up2You at one of the round tables of the seventh Startup Intelligence Observatory, one of the 46 Observatories of the Politecnico di Milano School of Management aimed at driving open innovation and contamination with start-ups.  Green SUIte is designed as a fun means of highlighting issues related to sustainability, in line with the goals of the United Nations Agenda 2030 and the ESG rating, through the active involvement of the employees of the participating companies. The event has been received positively, with about 600 of the companies’ 5,000 employees setting up 60 highly competitive teams.

For 12 weeks, the Green SUIte teams will take part in quizzes and missions aimed at developing a sustainability culture and an awareness of environmental issues, promoting the idea that being sustainable needn’t be tiring or boring. By engaging participants in small daily actions, such as creative cooking to reduce food waste, researching and bulk purchasing local, seasonal products, participating in shared mobility programmes, and making more virtuous use of technologies, greater awareness is raised on the environmental impact of each individual action, encouraging participants to be more environmentally friendly both inside and outside the company and to rethink their day-to-day lives from a new perspective. A case in point is the “Cross over to the dark side!” mission, in which participants will be encouraged to use their PCs and phones in dark mode. “Black is chic! But in addition to being cool (and making you feel cooler), the dark mode reduces energy consumption, and therefore CO2 emissions.” Difficult not to follow the Green SUite advice!

Green SUite is an innovative multi-company digital platform backed by a strong team spirit and concerned with involving business teams in sustainable actions. At the heart of the platform lies Play, a product by Up2You, the only company in Europe that, in addition to being authorised to manage Carbon Credits certified by VERRA and Gold Standard, does so using Blockchains.

This project has quickly become a virtuous example of Open Innovation, an approach that – partly aided by the pandemic – is increasingly proving to businesses the importance safeguarding our ecosystem while pursuing innovation and that collaboration is often key for developing solutions that can really change and have a lasting impact on a company and society as a whole.

“The Startup Intelligence Observatory’s 2021 research data speaks volumes: more than one third of all major Italian companies already collaborate with start-ups, recording a positive trend compared to previous years. A truly comforting piece of information for Italy’s entire innovation ecosystem; one that reveals a paradigm shift, underscored by a growing number of success stories,” says Alessandra Luksch, Director of the Startup Intelligence Observatory. The Green SUite project has been made possible by the activities developed by the Startup Intelligence Observatory to promote open innovation in enterprises and by its lively community of partner companies. This initiative just goes to show that no one can innovate alone, and that collaboration can quickly generate concrete results and widespread benefits.”

A dyed-in-the-wool approach to sustainability

Posted on | by Angela Leone | Leave a Comment on A dyed-in-the-wool approach to sustainability

Today, we meet MIP alumni Donatella Carbone and Roberto Toro, founders of Luxalpaca (lux-alpaca.com), a sustainable fashion company marrying luxurious Peruvian alpaca wool with Italian design.

Donatella is an IT professional with more than 10 years of experience working for leading consultancy companies (KPMG and Accenture). Born in the south of Italy, she first studied engineering in Rome and then moved to Milan in 2017, where she attended the International Part-Time MBA at MIP Politecnico di Milano.

Roberto is an industrial engineer specialised in Supply Chain with 8 years of work experience in several different industries. He moved from Peru to Milan in 2017 to attend the International Full-Time MBA at MIP.

A couple who could be called one of MIP’s “matchmaking” successes, in addition to setting up their own company, Donatella and Roberto are also parents of a young child.

Their company went live on October 2nd this year with a collection of men’s and women’s scarves made of 100% alpaca wool. In the next few months Luxalpaca will be launching some new products, also targeting the baby segment.

 

What were you doing before you came to MIP Politecnico di Milano and why did you choose those particular courses?

A project leader at an IT consultancy in Rome, at the time Donatella was looking to differentiate her background and gain a wider business perspective, so she decided to apply for an MBA. The part-time formula of the course at MIP was perfect, as it allowed her to continue working while studying. Other drivers were the international composition of the class, that was unlike those at other schools, plus the network of schools that enabled students to enjoy short experiences abroad, something from which Donatella benefited by attending a bootcamp in India.

Roberto already had some years of experience in Peru in supply chain management and he wanted to take on new challenges in an international and more dynamic environment. MIP had a perfect curricular program that matched his profile. A program integrating engineering and management was important for understanding how to manage a company.

 

Tell us how your business idea developed – how early on did it come about?

Luxalpaca was born after the MBA, and we believe that the timing was right, because it gave us the chance to think over and review many of the subjects we had learned and apply our different work expertise to our idea.

It all started in September 2019, when we visited Roberto’s family in Peru. We had a quick visit to Machu Picchu (Cusco), where it was pretty cold, so we bought a scarf made of alpaca wool. This led to Donatella’s first insight: why was this beautiful fabric not available in Italy? We learned that the Peruvian culture is not very well known here, and even less so are the unique qualities of alpaca wool.

 

How do you feel your MIP experience has set you up for what you are doing now?

We believe the MIP experience gave us the opportunity to understand and to deal with global dynamics. Markets evolve rapidly because of many factors, and we feel that the bootcamps were important for giving us interesting tools and strategies from business cases.

Luxalpaca is also part of this global dynamic, from its Peruvian origins to our Italian customers.

The pandemic has changed shopping behaviour and people are now placing more importance on the online channel: this is a  trend which is here to stay. That’s our challenge, to introduce the amazing benefits of an almost unknown alpaca wool and the millennial culture of the Inca Empire, combine these with Italian design, and reach customers through our e-commerce channel.

 

Sustainability is one of MIP’s core values and, we believe, this is also the case in your business. How do you see Luxalpaca’s role in this area?

One of the main reasons we were first attracted by the idea of Luxalpaca was that we recognised an opportunity to develop a sustainable supply chain in the fashion industry.

Our unique selling proposition is to offer a high-quality product while also creating value and impacting positively on all our stakeholders, right from the first moment.

Alpaca wool is one of the highly sustainable fabrics; the alpaca, too, is one of the most eco-friendly partners we could have! It lives extensively in the Andean area, eating what nature provides. The wool is shorn once a year in a specific period, after taking into account the animal’s survival needs, given the extreme weather conditions. Alpacas have been bred since ancient times and are now one of the main sources of business in the region. For us, that business means working in harmony with nature and respecting the local population.

Part of our first collection derives from a partnership with a community from Cusco called the Urpi, composed of women who come from different villages in the area. Scarves are handmade in different colours obtained from Andean flowers and plants.

Thanks to all of this, we have become partners in a phygital sustainability platform, one of the first platforms for sustainable fashion brands.

 

Living together with a young child, how easy do you find it to switch off from work, given that you are at the start-up stage of the business? Do you manage to get a balance between work and home life?

To be honest, we haven’t found much difficulty in switching off. We really love our slow-fashion proposal, and we care passionately about this lovely commitment. In the very early stages and due to the pandemic, on one hand, we were partially stopped in terms of production but on the other hand, being restricted to our home gave us the opportunity to better plan the future steps when Donatella was pregnant, and we were able to draw up the business plan.

Nowadays, we try to set up weekly objectives in both work and personal life, balancing our time and also being supported by a kindergarten.

 

Based on your experience so far, what would be the one piece of advice you would give to a student embarking on an MBA today?

Motivation is a must. It’s important to be conscious that motivation changes before, during and after the MBA. This will get you through to achieving your personal and professional objectives. The MBA is life-changing, and it will constantly challenge you, so you need to make the most of it.

Studying for an MBA means that you have chosen to get out of your comfort zone, and we believe that this fact will develop your inner strengths and will lead you to the path of success.

Donatella and Roberto’s story is a demonstration of how it is possible not only to build on previous experience but also, with the contribution made by MIP’s International MBAs and after imbibing the business school’s ethos, how minds can be opened, and our alumni can take a completely different direction, maybe one not previously envisaged.

All of us at MIP wish them the very best with their new venture and  ̶  who knows  ̶  maybe one day in the future they will be sending another young entrepreneur our way!