Visit to Altro Flooring & Wall Cladding – 2nd July

We usually think of Transition to a “low-carbon” economy as a matter for households and communities, yet companies, government bodies and voluntary agencies are integral to that movement.

Recently Altro Flooring, a notable local company with strong credentials for sustainability, hosted an initial meeting with several members of TTL plus Michael Underwood, chairman of Letchworth Sustainability Forum.

This visit originated in our quest to roofs on commercial, industrial and public buildings that might be suitable for solar photovoltaic panelling to generate energy locally. The aim of this first encounter was to gain a mutual understanding of what Alto and TTL each do and perhaps to identify opportunities to work together in future.

The visit started with a tour of the factory: a modern environment in continuous operation. We noted a range of measures for sustainability, such as re-using off-cut materials and exchanging heat from the furnaces via heat exchangers to warm the air supplies to those furnaces. We had a wide-ranging discussion with John Patsavellas, the Manufacturing & Technical Director, and colleagues and came away with several points in mind: that Altro is a leading company in its field of industrial floor and wall coverings; that these products are designed to be durable in demanding situations; and that the company has an impressive record of adopting energy-saving measures. We are most grateful to the Altro team for their hospitality and we look forward to opportunities for co-operation.

Please let us know of other outstanding local organisations that we could seek to understand in terms of sustainability and progress toward a “circular economy” by contacting us.