Slimline, sustainable and strong
22.09.2011
Slimline, sustainable and strong
Echotect and Bonato Group
cooperation unveiled at Marmomacc
A new manufacturing partnership is promising the arrival of an
exciting range of super-smooth, thin-profile products in the
engineered stone and building materials sector. Polishing
specialists The Bonato Group, owner of MDB and SAID, have come
together with Echotect, the innovative force behind the development
of eco-friendly tiles and surfaces, to perfect a 4mm- 10mm- thick,
gloss-finish product, ideal for kitchen, bathroom and internal and
external building applications.
Thinner than any similar polished "stone" products on the
market, the slimline Echotect materials have been unveiled as part
of The Bonato Group's display at the international exhibition of
stone design and technology, Marmomacc. It is the first chance to
see the Echotect material finished with the MBD polishing equipment
and SAID polishing tools, which have been specially designed to
work with extremely thin materials. As part of the co-operation, a
polishing plant has been established on a permanent loan at
Echotect's Swiss factory just outside Zurich, where trials have
focused on polishing materials straight from the production line.
Echotect is now refining both its matte finish (unpolished) and
high gloss products, and is in talks with distributors in the UK
and continental Europe to bring products to market. A broad range
of companies across the engineered stone and building materials
sectors are also in discussions about the commercialisation
and licensing of the Echotect technology (along with the
polishing line) in order to produce a range of materials
themselves.
Stephen Eastwood, CEO of Echotect BV, said: "The polishing line
is an amazing piece of engineering that allows us to create a high
gloss finish on incredibly thin material and we're delighted that
MBD and SAID have provided a solution that enables us to maximise
the technology's potential. This is another exciting milestone in
the journey of bringing Echotect's unique products to market and we
are hoping the lightweight, decorative aesthetic will prove popular
with architects and interior designers. And with no compromise in
terms of moisture and heat resistance, we believe that Echotect
products will become the obvious choice for the eco-conscious
consumer."
Using a pioneering technique which combines end-of-life PET
(polyethylene terephthalate) from recycled plastic bottles with
fine stone particles, Echotect has created an extraordinary new
material with comparable aesthetic and technical performance
characteristics to current options across the flat surface market.
Ideal for floor and wall tiles, countertops, internal boards and
external cladding applications, the production technique uses 250
plastic bottles per metre square of material and the finished
product is itself 100 per cent recyclable.
Luca Bonato, managing director of the Italian group which
incorporates SAID and MBD, said the combination of the two
technologies had clear benefits: "After visiting Echotect's
production facilities I was impressed with the technology and
intrigued by the potential it offered. Our two teams have worked
closely to develop the technique needed to polish 1.6m long slabs
down to thicknesses of 4mm. This has been achieved quickly because
of the surface finishing and the dimensional accuracy of the
Echotect slabs coming off the production line, requiring no further
calibration and the removal of only 0.1-0.2mm of surface material
during the polishing process. The result is very satisfactory and
we are pleased our technology can offer such outstanding results. I
have no doubt Echotect's technology can revolutionise manufacturing
in this field and that together we can produce incredible products
which will excite and inspire consumers."