In order to guarantee customers higher and higher quality standards, Fedon has created Eco-Lab in the Alpago headquarters, the internal laboratory for analysis and testing of products and materials used for the production of eyeglass cases and eyewear accessories. The need arose also in relation to new materials, such as those with sustainable values, the result of a constant scouting activity, which led the company to find more than 100 "green" materials.
The chemical laboratory has among its main functions the control that substances respect parameters of the Reach regulation, which provides directives for the manufacturing and use of chemicals in Europe.
Inside the Lab there are specific machines, necessary to carry out the required analysis.
“In the past we carried out analysis through external laboratories, but we realized that some macro compounds, recurring in our products, often presented critical issues difficult to solve and with very long timeframes - says Michele Polacci, Sustainability Manager at Fedon and head of the lab -. To reduce response times, keep the quality of our suppliers' materials and the quality offered to our clients more under control, we decided to internalize the analysis".
When entering the Lab, each material undergoes a specific analysis protocol: first of all, it is reduced into small homogeneous parts through the Mill (a specific instrument for shredding materials), after that it gets weighed and, through an ultrasonic bath, the chemicals compounds present in the sample are brought into solution and extracted. The solution is analyzed, and the results collected and compared with the standards of the regulation. Once the analysis has been carried out, the compliance of materials is communicated to the client or supplier.
"We recently worked with the aim of strengthening our commitment to sustainability and by doing so we could not forget quality and transparency - says President Callisto Fedon -. The new Fedon internal laboratory comes from the awareness that what differentiates us is the know-how and the control of essential and delicate processes that guarantee high standards of safety and quality to our Clients. "