Austrian ski/snowboard company Atomic picked up an ISPO Eco Responsibility Award for the way they designed and produced their Poacher Renu split snowboard, with its wood core, jute layering, and water-based top-coat lacquer.
The Jury found that "Atomic shows that modern, highly functional sports equipment can be manufactured sustainably without compromising on function or design. The well-thought-out overall concept from logistics to CSR is a role model not only for the sporting goods industry."
This is not Atomic's first foray in eco-design or manufacturing. Last year they won an inaugural ISPO Eco Responsibility Award for their Renu ski boot, which was formed with an 80% Pebax bio-plastic, derived from castor oil plants. This materials selection resulted in 50% fossil fuel use, 13% less in embodied carbon emissions in production, and a 58% reduction in what they termed eco-toxicity. The natural colored Renu also scored recognition as the world's first Planet Positive ski boot.
They even produce a modern ski stock which uses bamboo in the shaft, the Uni Carbon Bambus. (At one time nearly all ski sticks were made from bamboo, but if you remember correctly, it was a certain war in the one of the key source countries, Vietnam, that helped turn the industry towards aluminum.)
The Nomad ski with its recycled and renewable materials is another in the Atomic Renu collection.
The 2010 ISPO Eco Responsibility Award awards now also consider the complete production cycle of the product, not just their materials. It becomes apparent why Atomic scored well here because their Altenmarkt plant, for instance, uses of a wood chip heating system that cuts their annual fuel oil consumption by 950,000 liters and slashes carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by an estimated 4 million kilograms per year.
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