New materials: the urban furniture in Venice

[Marco]

Is it possible that an “eco-monster” like the industrial port of Marghera gives birth to an interesting project of urban furniture in the sign of eco-sustainability? It seems that it’s possible!
On Monday we met the researchers of the Consorzio Venezia Ricerche, at VEGA science park of Venice (that is located in the old industrial area of the port). Thanks to the collaboration between science and business this consortium developed a new kind of material in order to solve one of the problems for the management of the delicate environment like the venetian lagoon. “Sticks” (called “paline”) play a fundamental role in the lagoon: they delimit the shippable canals and they act as “parking slots” for boats.

This material is made of wood’s dust (70-80%) and polypropylene (20-30%), developed to answer strong eco-sustainability criteria, durability and aesthetical features (it really seems wood…). The material mixes the features of wood with those of plastics: technical features are the same of wood (it could be nailed or cut with a saw) and it’s recyclable or burnable without toxic emissions and, as a plastic material, has a durability of 5 times longer and it’s produced industrially (with the Life Cycle Assessment already estimated).
That’s a really interesting urban furniture’s case, that could be applied also in the world of home furniture. Actually there is not a program of application to the home furniture’s world, but Bizeta, the company which is producing this material, has built product lines for marine applications (like docks). With a little more communication this new material should has “green light”: for the first time should be a urban furniture “made in Marghera” to open new horizons to the home furniture “made in Italy”.