Desso, the global carpets, carpet tiles and sports
pitches company continues to invest in a major television
advertising campaign in Europe as part of its continuing commitment
to raising awareness of the issue of indoor air
quality.
The campaign which first broadcasts in the Netherlands at
the beginning of the year focuses on one of the company's latest
best-seller product innovations, the DESSO AirMaster®
carpet, which is eight times more effective than
hard floors at retaining and capturing fine dust particles and
four times more effective than regular
carpets1).
"People spend 90% of their time indoors, so it's imperative that we find ways to invent new products that contribute to health and wellbeing indoors. Whether it's about improving air quality in schools, universities, hospitals, offices, care centres, public buildings or transport systems its good business both commercially and from the corporate responsibility perspective. That is why we are delighted the new DESSO AirMaster® carpet product has been such a resounding success in current and new markets from Europe to Latin America, such that it has become our best performing product worldwide."
Alexander Collot d'Escury (CEO Desso Group)
From Shanghai to Brussels, air pollution is an issue of
increasing concern. Cleaning up air pollution in China may cost as
much as 1.75 billion yuan (over €200
billion)2). According to the European
Commission, poor air quality is a bigger cause of premature death
than road traffic accidents3). To deal with
this, the EU has recently announced further measures to clean up
Europe's air4).
Small dust particles of less than 10 micrometres (µm) in
diameter (PM10) and less than 2.5µm
(PM2.5) can cause respiratory and
cardiovascular disease and lung cancer. The World Health
Organisation has estimated than more than two million people die
every year from breathing tiny particles in the indoor and outdoor
air5).
Last year, Desso launched its ongoing Great Indoors
campaign to raise awareness of the dangers of such issues
as particulate matter to human health; alongside this it has
focused its innovation programme on developing products that
contribute to health and wellbeing, which is at the core of the
company's vision: 'To make the floor work for our health
and wellbeing'. Linked to this vision is the company's
commitment to the circular economy powered by Cradle to
Cradle®
Since 2008 Desso has been dedicated to developing a
far reaching business sustainability approach based on Cradle to
Cradle® principles, which encourage
the development of products made from healthy materials, leading to
safer and more effective recycling later. This approach underpins
Desso's commitment to the circular economy, in which goods are
recycled in a healthy way again and again.
Better indoor air quality not only contributes to better
health and wellbeing, it also boosts worker productivity. A
Californian study by William Fisk from the Lawrence Berkeley
National Laboratory demonstrated that better indoor air quality can
improve office workers' productivity by 0.5 to 5 percent with
estimated savings of $20 billion to $200 billion per
year.
Desso CEO Alexander Collot d'Escury will be discussing the
issue of the circular economy and the need to create the Great
Indoors at the World Economic Forum's annual summit in Davos during
January 22-25.
1) Based on independent tests
carried out by the German test institute, GUI with DESSO
AirMaster® versus standard PVC hardfloor and versus
standard structured loop pile carpet.
2) Kaiman, J, China faces $176 bill to clean up
air pollution, The Guardian, 20 December 2013.
3) European Commission Press
Release, Environment: New policy package to clean up Europe's air,
Brussels, 18 December 2013.
4) European Commission Press Release,
Environment: New policy package to clean up Europe's air, Brussels,
18 December 2013.
5) WHO, Tackling the global clean air
challenge, 26 September 2011.
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