Sustainability

Bertolini’s custom church chairs are built with locally sourced materials. The 16-gauge cold-rolled steel chair frames are produced from 100% recyclable American-made steel. This durable frame configuration will last twice as long as other frames, supporting sustainability by lengthening the product’s life cycle.
  • GREENGUARD Certification
  • FormFlex™
  • Bio-Based Foam
  • Zero Emission Coating Process
  • Reduced Packaging Waste

GREENGUARD Certified

The Impressions Church Chair by Bertolini is made in the USA. It is GREENGUARD Certified by the GREENGUARD Environmental Institute, which means it has passed rigorous third-party tests to ensure it does not off-gas harmful chemicals.

Longer Product Life Thanks to FormFlex™ Seat Base

The Impressions church chair features our patented FormFlex™ seat base for boosted comfort during worship services and church events. This remarkably durable seat base supports 1,000 pounds (453.5 kg), which supports sustainability by extending the life of the chair.

Bio-Based Foam

We work with one of America’s leading producers of foam cushioning and use their bio-based foam products in our custom church chairs. These foam cushioning products leave a smaller environmental footprint in comparison to traditional foams made with petroleum products. Our foams are fully recyclable, free of the controversial PBDE (Polybrominated diphenyl ethers), and are produced without the use of chlorinated fluorocarbons. These bio-based foams are the industry’s best and are perfect for your church chairs. Bio-based foams are so durable that their performance meets or exceeds the petroleum-based counter parts they replace.

Zero Emission Coating Process

Bertolini does not use electroplating for chair finishes because of the environmental dangers of plating (which include toxic air pollution). Instead, Bertolini offers a more environmentally friendly powder coated steel frame finish, which lasts longer and is safer. At Bertolini, we use a state-of-the-art, electrostatic, powder coat system that is self-contained and has zero emissions and zero environmental impact.

Reduced Packaging Waste

We have reduced cardboard in our church chair packaging by eliminating the need for fully enclosed boxes in our deliveries. All our chairs are delivered in custom shrink-wrapped protection stacks or in reusable blankets.

Bertolini’s Commitment to Sustainability Includes:

Facts and Figures

  • Bertolini has adopted companywide pre-industrial and post-industrial recycling programs for 98% of all materials used in the chair building process.
  • Energy Mix and Source: 19.9% of our electrical energy comes from renewable power supplies. Of the 19.9%, 41% comes from wind energy, 44% comes from geothermal energy, 7% comes from solar energy, 4% comes from small hydro energy and 4% comes from biomass energy.

Carbon Footprint

  • Our policy for shipping is to consolidate loads. Additionally, our factory has reduced freight miles per chair and incorporated back hauling with Bertolini trucks when possible.
  • Steel, poly, and wood are locally sourced for our facility

Recycle Programs

  • We recycle all steel, corrugated plastic, wood, and paper.
  • Approximately 49% of a standard chair by weight is built with materials which contain recycled components.
  • 100% of a standard chair can be taken apart and recycled into other products.
  • 100% of the materials used in packaging chairs can easily be recycled.

In Progress Sustainability Initiatives:

Energy Savings

  • Our Lean Manufacturing Training has resulted in new ways to reduce energy consumption.
  • Our facility only uses general factory lighting when needed and only runs the powder-coating machine when needed. This reduced utility expenses from $1.28 per chair shipped in 2012 to $1.17 per chair shipped in 2013, a 9% cost reduction.

Supplier Sustainability Profiles

  • We survey our suppliers to learn about their sustainability initiatives and, whenever possible, choose to partner with sustainable minded suppliers when making decisions on purchasing products and raw materials.

Supplier Sustainability Profiles

  • We survey our suppliers to learn about their sustainability initiatives and, whenever possible, choose to partner with sustainable minded suppliers when making decisions on purchasing products and raw materials.

Environmental Policy

  • It’s the policy of Bertolini to support continuous improvement in all aspects of business, including caring for the environment. 

Administration, Sales & Marketing Departments Employees

  1. Continue developing methods of using less paper to accomplish work.

  2. Maintain room temperature at minimum comfort levels, not to over cool or overheat areas.

  3. Set up HVAC systems to ensure that units are not in use when the office and buildings are vacant.

  4. Turn off lights when not needed.

Product Development Department Employees

  1. Continue to improve efficiency so that more products can be made in less time, saving labor and energy.
  2. Continue to improve product quality to prevent the additional shipping of repair parts.
  3. Continue developing methods of using less paper.
  4. Continue to reduce scrap.
  5. All scrap steel is inspected and approved by the department supervisor prior to placement in the recycling container. This is to ensure reworking the part is not possible.
  6. All scrap cardboard from packaging is placed in a recycling container, and (if applicable) given to shipping for repackaging components.
  7. All scrap powder is used on non-color sensitive components and products.
  8. All scrap olefin fabric is placed in a recycling container.
  9. General facility lighting is only used as needed.

Production Department Employees

  1. Continue to improve efficiencies so that more products can be made in less time, saving labor and energy.
  2. Continue to improve product quality to prevent the additional shipping of repair parts.
  3. Continue developing methods of using less paper to accomplish work.
  4. Continue to reduce scrap.
  5. All scrap steel will be inspected and approved by the department supervisor prior placement in the recycle container. This is to insure reworking the part is not possible.
  6. All scrap cardboard from packaging will be a) placed in a recycle container b) if applicable given to shipping for repackaging components.
  7. All scrap powder will be used on non-color sensitive components and products.
  8. All scrap olefin fabrics will be placed in a recycle container.
  9. General facility lighting will only be used as needed.
  10. Establish quarterly goals for each employee.

Shipping Department Employees

  1. Continue developing methods of using less paper to accomplish work.

  2. Reduce carbon footprint by consolidating loads. 

  3. Develop freight lanes to improve load chair count.

Recycle Program

The Bertolini recycling program continues to expand as knowledge and technology advances. This program includes recycled materials purchased and used in the product (pre-production recycling) as well as materials recycled after production (post production recycling). In addition, Bertolini offers employees the ability to recycle home materials if they don’t have a recycling program at home.

Pre-Production Recycling Program

Steel:

  1. Steel tubing is purchased from local suppliers and is produced with an average of 23% post-consumer recycled steel in the fabrication of materials used to make Bertolini tubing. This represents approximately 25% of the weight of a standard chair.
  2. Steel tube yield is very high because it’s cut to size at the mill which eliminates waste caused by different lengths required to build chairs.

Plastic:

  1. ABS plastic used in manufacturing chair backs contains 100% recycled or reprocessed materials when these materials are available. This represents approximately 14% of the weight of an average chair.
  2. HDPE plastic used in manufacturing chair seats contains approximately 30% of recycled or reprocessed materials when these materials are available. This represents approximately 10% of the weight of an average chair.

Wood:

  1. OSB wood is used on some models where plastic is not used and is made of compressed wood strands that are recycled from other wood cutting processes.

Fabrics:

Polyolefin fabrics are manufactured from industrial waste, as a by-product of gasoline manufacturing, thus removing raw materials from the waste stream.

Powders:

  1. We utilize and promote our Environmental (Black and Green) powder. This powder meets the requirements of the US green building council. This product is manufactured using 70% recycled materials and produces no VOC emissions.

Foam:

  1. Some foam contains Sustainable Soy / Bio-based polyol material which replaces non-renewable petroleum-based polyols. This type of polyol improves energy efficiency and reduces the carbon and environmental footprint.

Post-Product Recycling Program

Steel:

  1. Scrap/recycle dumpsters are placed at the facility. The dumpsters are picked up by a scrap metal dealer for recycling into other steel products.
  2. Steel is delivered in reusable containers. This process saves thousands of pounds of wood and cardboard packaging materials each month.

Aluminum:

  1. All scrap aluminum is accumulated then taken to a recycling facility.
  2. Aluminum cans are also recycled.

Paper:

  1. In the event paper must be used for printing documents, both sides of the paper are used.
  2. Confidential documents are stored and later shredded prior to being recycled.

Cardboard:

  1. Recycling containers are placed at the facility. Corrugated cardboard is flattened and regularly taken to the recycling facility.
  2. Packaging materials received from local suppliers are sent back to local suppliers to be reused.
  3. We reuse boxes for shipping components to customers.

Plastic:

  1. Plastic bags are cut into strips, then made into matting and other items for distribution to homeless people in the community.
  2. All ABS and HDPE plastic scrap generated from the injection process is reground and put back into chair backs. This means that zero plastic scrap is wasted.

Wood:

  1. Some scrap wood is made into spacer blocks used in packaging for specific models.
  2. Some scrap wood is made available to employees for home wood working projects.
  3. Wood dust and scrap from the CNC router is sent to a recycling facility.

Fabrics:

  1. Some scrap fabrics are sent to a recycling facility.
  2. Some scrap is reused in specific upholstery operations to improve efficiency and/or product quality.
  3. Obsolete fabrics are sold to fabric houses and sold to consumers for couches, chairs, and other craft projects.
  4. Obsolete fabrics not wanted at fabric houses are donated.

Powders:

  1. Excess Powder used in the manufacturing process is collected and recycled as “Re-Claimed.” Re-Claimed powder is used on chair carts and dollies.

Foam:

  1. Scrap foam is returned to the supplier who bails it and sends it to be made into carpet padding. This type of carpet padding is higher quality than virgin poly.
  2. Re-usable carts have been built to reduce the use of packaging materials.

Product End-Of-Life Program

Bertolini has established an end-of-life program to educate the customer on their options in properly recycling chairs. You can find a recycle center for specific items by visiting: www.earth911.com.

Refurbish Options

  1. New seats and backs can be made for your chairs. Contact a Bertolini Sales Rep for details.

Removal and Disposal Options

  1. If a Bertolini truck is used to make a delivery to you, Bertolini will take your chairs and bring them back to our facility.
  2. Bertolini will inspect each chair and either take them apart to recycle them properly or find a charitable organization to send the chairs to if they pass inspection. A detailed charitable receipt will be sent to you.

Social Responsibility

Bertolini is committed to responsibly using resources to build a healthy and educated workforce and to care for the health of the environment.