Environmental sustainability

The company headquarters were designed by architect Guido Canali, whose efforts were recognised in 2006 with the Honourable Mention of the “Gold Medal for Italian Architecture” awarded by the Triennale of Milan. The 13th International Architecture Exhibition of the Biennale of Venice in 2012 presented this project in the Italian hall as an architectural example of Made in Italy excellence for a construction attentive to the poetics of the territory, the life of people, and environmental sustainability. 

Smeg designs its electric appliances - ovens, hobs, coffee machines, kitchen units, dishwashers, washing machines, dryers, air extraction hoods, sinks, refrigerators, and freezers - affording special attention to the integration of environmental protection requirements.

Special efforts are made to use materials such as steel, glass, aluminium, and brass, which can be easily recycled through proper waste sorting.

To improve the ecological footprint of its products, in addition to strictly observing the indications of European Directives, RoHs, and REACH, keeping well below the minimum legal values, Smeg has adopted an internal regulation that further extends restrictions on the use of substances considered potentially hazardous.

RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances): The RoHS Directive provides for strict restrictions on the use of hazardous materials and substances such as lead, cadmium, mercury, hexavalent chromium VI, polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs), and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs).

REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals): REACH is a regulation determining how chemical substances should be managed, aiming to ensure high-level protection of human health and the environment.

The entire Smeg supply chain complies with sustainability criteria, starting from the selection of suppliers with eco-friendly protocols in possession of environmental and safety certification, and which make the most possible use of recyclable packaging, all the way through to the choice - where possible - of transportation means other than road freight.

The Company, forever endowed with a strong sense of ecological awareness, in the last 10 years has achieved an almost 30% reduction in airborne and aquatic pollutant emissions, an impressive 40% reduction in water consumption in relation to production, and has also reduced its use of materials, especially for packaging.

Smeg has also demonstrated an unwavering commitment through its far-sighted waste management policy: waste production has been reduced in terms of both quantity and harmfulness, and sorting of leftover materials for reuse and recycling has increased by 20%.

For Smeg, ecology means not only producing electric appliances with a low environmental impact, but also adopting a production process that reflects, or even better, exceeds existing environmental protection laws: an industrial process no doubt more burdensome, but nowadays an irrefutable priority.

Smeg Instruments appliances combine best performance with low consumption, focusing in particular on maximum energy efficiency to ensure absolute respect for our environment and an improved quality of life.