Our composite panel, etalbond^® A2, has a specially developed core that fulfils the requirements of EN 13501-1, in order to be categorised as an A2 class. This means that the material contains a very high percentage of inorganic fillers in comparison with its organic content, allowing it to reach the requirements of having very low calorific values per weight. The fact that the material uses a very small amount of polymer (less than 5%) makes it easy to recycle and ecofriendly. In addition, the fillers used derive from nature (natural minerals), which do not require any further processing and, therefore, have a lower carbon footprint.

 

 

Arypon is a clear coat applied to the top of the colour/aesthetic layer of coated aluminum. This specially developed coating – based on nanotechnology – helps the coated surface to be easily cleaned using rainwater or condensation. The surface is hydrophilic, so water wets the entire coated surface and removes accumulated dirt from a building. This functionality keeps it clean and, as a result, less water is required for cleaning the building, lowering maintenance costs.

 

 

The wastewater treatment facility, which is located at the composite panel production plant, easily treats water used in cleaning production equipment. First of all, it coagulates the dispersed solids or organic particles that exist as emulsions to then separate them from the liquid. For this reason, a filter press is used. The clean water that is produced is reused in the production process, minimising the natural resources used.

 

 

Firstly, we use natural gas instead of electricity wherever possible. As an example, all of our newest production ovens – built in 2016 – have been designed with burners that use natural gas as a fuel. Furthermore, we conducted a thorough analysis of our electrical loads. After that, we installed special electrical cabinets with combined capacitor/filter banks to improve the overall power output of our plant, in order to reduce the harmonic levels caused by nonlinear loads. It is also worth mentioning that, after this investment, our power efficiency increased and reduced the power consumption of the plant by 10%. Other initiatives include the replacement of traditional light bulbs with LED and the elimination of compressed-air leaks in the pneumatic circuits. The core of etalbond^® ACPs are polyethylene, fire-retardant or incombustible compounds.

 

 

All of our products carry environmental product declarations (EPDs) and life-cycle assessments (LCAs) from accredited and widely recognised institutions. The company has received a plethora of environmental management awards and has a certified environmental management system, according to ISO 14001:2015. It is also in our immediate plans to adopt the energy consumption standard, ISO 50001, to monitor our energy consumption reduction targets in a transparent and organised manner.

As we are a vertically integrated producer with access to our own casting and rolling facility, we have a closed-loop recycling system of production scrap and are able to provide our customers with accurate recycled content data for the aluminium used in our products. This allows our clients to place themselves and building investments forward for a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification. Furthermore, Elval Colour’s products have recently acquired the Singapore Green Label, and they are recommended by BVD in Sweden.

 

 

Elval Colour has the advantage of being a vertically integrated group with full product traceability. The company has been in the coating and ACP business for many years, and has extensive experience that is matched by very few companies around the world. In addition, we can provide our customers with end-of-life product solutions for complete recycling. Finally, our consumption of natural resources is far lower than the competition and this is down to the extremely strict environmental regulations in Greece.