no to waste, yes to sustainability!

From April 2 to May 3, 2014, in conjunction with the Salone del Mobile, the Fondazione Luciana Matalon Museum hosted the MOTTAINAI exhibition, sponsored by the Consulate General of Japan and the Milan Polytechnic. Mottainai is an expression which in Japanese means “What a waste, what a shame to waste!” and has become a slogan for eco-sustainability. It was adopted by Wangari Maathal, the Kenyan environmentalist and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004, as it summarises the meaning of regret concerning the waste of resources and material objects, which, from a daily dimension has now spread to the municipal and industrial waste sectors. In recent years, the topics of reuse and recycling have become fundamental, especially the life cycles of glass and paper, which have now reached a high level of reuse. For many other products, equally satisfying results have not been achieved. Komatsu Seiren, one of the most renowned Japanese textile companies, has developed a procedure to recover the industrial sludge generated by the textile production chain. This research led to the discovery of Greenbiz®, an innovative material which, due to its hygroscopic properties, is already used in Japan for roof gardens and vertical greenery. The exhibition highlighted the level of expertise of the Polytechnic and the figures involved, architects, artists and designers, launching a challenge to gather new ideas on the subject of the reuse of industrial sludge. Thanks to its SISTEMA TRIPLEX®, Nord Zinc was selected to realise all the aesthetic and protective finishes for the metal structures used by the various works, roof gardens and vegetable gardens and vertical greenery. In addition to the excellence of its treatments, Nord Zinc, which has obtained the Environmental Product Declaration EPD, was also chosen for its inspiration focused on sustainability: its treatments minimise maintenance, guarantee a verified environmental impact and contribute to the evaluation of the life cycle of the work in its entirety. Eco-sustainability involves the attention paid towards long term environmental impact and, with a perfect combination of art and technology, feeds a virtuous circle for a balanced, creative and durable growth.