Rotoprint: virtuous example of circular economy

They invest in the green economy, they are attentive to the issues of recovery and recycling, and at the same time they fight pollution and climate change, because their virtuous practices contribute to saving energy and avoiding CO2 emissions.

These are the Italian companies, small and large, that Enel and the Symbola Foundation have evaluated to cite them as an example in the “100 Italian circular economy stories” report.
Among the 100 Italian concerns - that include  Eataly, Cariplo Foundation, Intesa San Paolo, Legambiente and many other prominent names -  one has Rotoprint Sovrastampa: a family business founded in 1978 by Gian Carlo Arici who brought something unique to the market, a system that allows companies to fully recover their packaging stocks that cannot be used due to errors, defects, updates on labels ... which happens more often than you think.
 
Industrial pride and research. As stated by Giovanni Luca Arici, CEO of Rotoprint and son of the founder: «When, forty years ago, we invented our overprinting system with rotogravure machines, which allows us to intervene on packaging already printed with millimetric precision, there was still no mention of circular economy. The environmental awareness that exists today had not yet developed, but for us the concept of recovery was already central and the customers immediately rewarded us. Even today we are the only ones in Italy to be able to save unusable materials by overprinting, giving them a new life ».
Suffice it to say that, in forty years of activity, Rotoprint has saved 950 thousand km of material from the landfill. This also means a huge amount less CO2 because, if you reuse the obsolete material, you also avoid producing new ones.
The initial idea of Rotoprint has now four decades of history, but in the meantime the company has evolved with the technology and the needs of the market, because any overprinting is technically complex and always customised. Today the company, as ever under the guidance of the Arici family, continues to update internally, focusing on environmental sustainability. The latest new feature in this direction is the introduction of water based colors in rotogravure printing processes. «We are almost ready for this important milestone» explains Arici. «We have invested in research and study because water based colors are particularly difficult to handle and solvent inks are commonly used for rotogravure printing. Hence, in overprinting the technical problems are even greater. However, we believe that the competitiveness of Italian production plays on innovation, quality and sustainability. And once again we want to be the first to bring to our customers, in Italy and abroad, an important added value».

ROTOPRINT SOVRASTAMPA S.R.L. Founded in 1978 in Lainate (MI), it specializes in graphically modifying pre-printed packaging, whether in format (tetrarex, combibloc, elopak, microwave boxes, cartons, blisters, clusters, envelopes, bags) or in reels in mono or multilayer substrate (aluminum, paper, polyamide, polyethylene, polypropylene, polyester, sleeves, tetrabrik, adhesive labels in rolls, etc.). The company has received important international awards for eco-sustainability, including a prestigious WorldStar Packaging Award 2015.