KE: Our Green Philosophy

Spending time outdoors at home, in the garden or on the patio is essential for those who want to reconnect with nature and with our greenest soul.

KE has always taken a special interest in environmental sustainability, using safe and renewable resources, with the utmost respect for the natural world surrounding us.

Here are some examples:

• The use of aluminum, a permanent material

Recently the concept of permanent material has been introduced. This is a material that cannot be consumed, a material that is used and reused to infinity. Beginning in the 19th century Aluminum was extracted from bauxite, which is used in varied fields including construction, consumer goods, transportation and packaging, due to its ductility and resistance .

In the last few decades, great attention has also been paid to the recycling of existing aluminum resources in order to save the huge amount of water and energy used for extraction and processing. Aluminum is 100% recyclable.

For our solar shading components KE has chosen aluminum because:

- It can be recycled without any loss of its properties and with a reduced environmental impact
- It has a closed life-cycle because it can be reused over and over again
- It is an always available resource

For these reasons KE awnings and pergolas are made with aluminum components, the green material par excellence.

• Reuse of textile waste to achieve new sustainability goals

The life of the fabric fibers can also be extended. An aspect that is very dear to KE, which wants to guarantee its customers a sun awning or a pergola entirely made according to a green perspective. Suffice it to say that for every awning made, about 10% of the fabric becomes waste.

Hence the idea of creating a consortium among the main manufacturers of curtains to be able to collect these waste and use it again to create a regenerated fiber - Raytent by Giovanardi - entirely obtained from waste acrylic fabrics.

Raytent fabric is 100% mass-dyed acrylic fiber, 50% of which comes from the mechanical recycling of manufacturing waste consisting of mass-dyed acrylic fabrics, designed according to the principles of the green economy to limit the environmental impact , both to reduce CO2 emissions and to reduce the use of chemicals and water in the production phase.

KE makes its own and shares this commitment in seeking new solutions for an increasingly aware production chain that is closer to the themes of sustainability and the circular economy, while ensuring maximum performance and attention to detail for each of its outdoor solutions.

• ISO 14001 certification

KE is ISO 14001 certified for environmental management in order to monitor the environmental impacts of our activities, systematically seeking improvement in a coherent, effective and above all sustainable way.

Some of the aspects involved in the certification are, for example, emissions into the atmosphere (e.g. from welding or painting plants), wastewater, hazardous substances (compliant labeling, safe transport, etc.), hazardous waste, (e.g. used oils, paint scraps, etc.).

As an added extra security our work is marked with the utmost care towards land and the environment.

• WEEE collection to optimize waste

KE - as a BAT Group company - is registered on the WEEE recovery circuit (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment). What is it?

The main problems related to the disposal of this waste derive from the type of materials they are made of: lead, mercury, plastic, copper, iron, etc.

For this reason we have relied on a specialized consortium that treats this waste with the right equipment, minimizing their environmental impact and helping to reuse the resources that can be recovered from these disused objects.