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Scrap from construction sites, debris and rubble from decommissioned or earthquake-damaged buildings that come back to life after careful analysis and become material for the construction of roads and buildings. A virtuous example of circular economy and sustainability choice matured by Piero and Massimo, who in the midst of Covid founded E-lab, in Cepagatti, in Abruzzo, in the province of Pescara. They are the protagonists of CNA Storie of November. Here they enter samples of materials, stored by client companies in landfills. Like the rubble from the L’Aquila earthquake, placed as samples on a tray on the lab table. Destined to pass through sieves of different thicknesses and subjected to chemical investigations first, and physical-mechanical tests later, to test its resilience and durability.
Rubble from the L’Aquila earthquake becomes material for building roads and new homes
The circular economy, an alternative to landfill
“Sustainability, for us, means giving new life to materials. In years of business, we have acquired the necessary skills to prevent them from going back into the circuit instead of ending up in landfills,” explains Piero Berghella, CEO of E-lab. E-lab is also approached by bitumen and concrete companies, which submit materials for analysis before using them on construction sites. “Our target market is made up of companies that up to fifty years ago were rock quarrymen,” explains Piero. “Those companies, today, have evolved and made concrete plants or waste aggregate recycling businesses.”
Arianna, 26. Tutor for school-to-work alternation
E-lab today has five partners and eight employees, distributed between the Abruzzo and Fano offices. The youngest is 21, the oldest 26: she is Arianna, a chemical expert diploma and a degree in biotechnology. She has her own little kingdom in E-lab, where she experiments and mentors students who aspire to take the same path.”We chose Arianna as a tutor and trainer of the young people who come here for school-to-work alternation activities,” says Piero, who explains, “the choice is not random. We could have followed them as partners, but we thought that someone closer to them, as their age, could speak the same language as them and thus verify their work aptitudes.”
A model to be exported
The idea is to take the E-lab model to other regions of Italy as well: “We are highly appreciated in the area, and that is why we are thinking of exporting our working model to other regions as well. For example, in Sardinia.” A choice that requires investing in additional skills and professionalism: “we want to make available to clients other types of activities, such as training, and other consultancies beyond those we already do.”
A courageous choice, that of Piero and Massimo, who three years ago, in the midst of Covid decided to pool forces and skills and in CNA found valuable support. “The experience with CNA, for us, was-and is-interesting,” says Piero. “In CNA we found an organization that accompanied us in the start-up phase and made itself available for all the activities that could interest us, such as training.”
“CNA accompanied us in the start-up phase and made itself available for all activities that could interest us, such as training.”
Safety is a choice, more than a fulfillment
From the provision of safety equipment for employees to the focus on upgrading, one understands how for E-lab, safety is a choice, rather than a fulfillment.
“One of our company missions is to apply a safety system that is not exclusively what the law requires of us,” explains Piero. “In fact, in my 40 years as an employee, I have had a culture on safety that has served me over time to avoid having occupational diseases. That’s why I care so much that my employees adopt every method that ensures they work safely and as comfortably as possible.”
A transparent door separates Piero’s room from the laboratories: here there is no boundary and no secret. Just as, for these young people, there is no boundary between work and learning: here you learn by working and work by learning.
