"My line has always been to make machines with essential technology, but intended to last." The orientation of Mirko Giacomini, head of product construction and design at Tego Srl, a Pavia-based company specializing in the production of special machines for leather goods and sewing as well as jigs for automatic machines, is simple but clear: the first step in being truly sustainable is to create objects, in this case machinery, that are solid and capable of lasting. After all, product survivability has always been one of the pillars of a truly sustainable approach.
"For me, the first way to respond to the sustainability needs of the supply chain is to make a product that requires little maintenance, has low consumption and a life expectancy of more than 20 years," Giacomini explains. "I think this approach is greener than many others: to make a well-designed product, using quality materials and not cheap ones, that guarantee its longevity. An awareness that Tego consolidates through the use of materials from certified supply chains and carbon-free producers. And even on the packaging front, the company is gradually moving away from plastic in favor of packaging made from recycled and recyclable materials.
"Today we are all too entangled in the mechanisms of consumerism," Giacomini continues. "But when a customer buys one of my machines, I am calm because in my experience mechanical problems, even in the long term, are very rare. I have recently received the first requests for spare parts for machines more than 35 years old. It is a savings, in terms of time, energy and materials, both for us and for the company."
Alongside this "old-school" approach, with its deeply contemporary value, Tego is also pursuing efforts to make itself increasingly green: the first goal concerns the installation, by the end of the year, of a 40kw photovoltaic system capable of covering 60 percent of the company's energy needs. The recent switch to electrically powered company cars also goes in this direction, with the goal of doing the same for trucks as well.
