Alcantara: Global Sustainable Automotive Material Maker

Alcantara continues to commit to sustainability. For numerous years, Alcantara has aimed to balance its profitability and product development between social, economic, and environmental factors. Alcantara assigns over 50% of its international investments to initiatives that foster sustainability. Over time, achieving sustainability has emerged as a core guiding principle for Alcantara, involving the entire corporate structure and creating a real interconnected culture. It is key to the company’s mission to make everyday extraordinary.

Alcantara Achieves Carbon Neutrality.

Achieving carbon neutrality means achieving a net balance of CO2 emissions equal to zero. This includes not only the production process, but also utilization and disposal of the product. Alcantara was one of the first companies globally to establish this ambitious objective back in 2009 by attaining the prestigious Carbon Neutrality certification from one of the most rigorous international certification bodies,TÜV SÜD. Alcantara has developed an immense and constant commitment to sustainability ever since, as demonstrated by the processes designed to achieve continuous improvement within the company, along the numerous additional certifications Alcantara has obtained.

Alcantara measures, reduces, and offsets 100% of all carbon emissions attributable both to company activities and to the product, from cradle to grave. The residual emissions which cannot yet be completely eliminated by current technologies are offset each year through Alcantara’s participation in green offsetting projects sponsored by the United Nations. These green offsetting projects are designed to promote the use of renewable energy in developing and most disadvantaged areas of the world.

Alcantara Achieves Responsible Procurement

Alcantara’s responsibility for sustainability extends throughout the entire supply chain. In addition to monitoring its supply chain closely, Alcantara has also been actively involved in developing awareness among its suppliers for several years. Suppliers are encouraged to neutralize the greenhouse gas emissions associated with products supplied to Alcantara, through a rigorous process of measurement, reduction, and offsetting.

Since 2007, Alcantara S.p.A. monitors and works closely with its supply chain with a mandate to increase awareness of sustainability-related issues, and the commitment to resolving these problems. Alcantara requires that all suppliers and partners respect the universal principles of human rights, labour standards, environmental protection, and fighting corruption.

Alcantara S.p.A. is committed to ensure that its suppliers meet all its procedural requirements to be included in their Supplier List. Alcantara S.p.A. also encourages improved environmental performance and social responsibility on the suppliers' part by implementing the following:

• Perform audits carried out on site to assess Alcantara S.p.A.’s ability to satisfy the specific supply requests.
• Observe the requirements of the certified management systems (quality, safety, environment, and social responsibility).
• Create incentives to adopt programmes to improve energy consumption, reduce dangerous materials, and reduce emissions.
• Use recycled or recovered materials and manage waste as well as possible.
• Update mapping of suppliers, based on various criteria, including the level of risk to sustainability posed by the supply, the geographic area the supplier operates in, information in the public domain, compliance with the Code of Ethics and/or programmes of corporate social responsibility, and their conduct during supply.
• Sign contracts for services with suppliers that hold them to complying with the SA8000® standard and observing the general section of the Organisational Model (pursuant to Legislative Decree 231/2001) and Alcantara S.p.A.’s Code of Ethics in carrying out their responsibilities.

In 2019, Alcantara S.p.A. continued to pursue initiatives designed to enhance awareness throughout the supply chain of its environmental sustainability model, adding the number of supplier categories involved in calculating and offsetting CO2 emissions.

Alcantara Implements Stakeholder Engagement Activities

Alcantara pursues “stakeholder engagement” activities which are designed to draw the attention of relevant and prominent stakeholders in business sectors and raise their awareness of the key sustainability issues. Alcantara also brings up sustainability and environmental challenge issues with clients, institutions, and prestigious partners, such as the World Bank, Connect4Climate, Venice International University and Earth Day, as well as universities, the press, influencers, opinion makers, and the most highly-accredited NGOs.

We are proud to be the official distributor of Alcantara in North America. if you are looking to purchase Alcantara please visit our online store to see the full alcantara collection!