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Full Cradle to Cradle Certified® Gold for nearly our entire collection

Sustainability is one of Mosa's core values and takes top priority in the development of new products, responsible production processes and optimal working conditions. Mosa is the world’s first ceramic tile company to gain full Cradle to Cradle Certified® Gold certification for nearly its entire tile collection. Years of research and investment have yielded even more results, including ISO 14001 certification and registration in various Environmental Databases. Mosa tiles also contribute to sustainable building certifications such as LEED, BREEAM, DGNB, and HQE.

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But there is still more work to be done

Mosa has been a Cradle to Cradle Charter Organisation since early 2011; the charter establishes our commitment to further implementing Cradle to Cradle in all our company’s products and processes. You can find the registration of Mosa's certified tiles as well as detailed information about the testing criteria on the C2CPII website. You can also take a look at our Cradle to Cradle brochure and our online discussions of the LEED and BREEAM sustainability certifications.

> Go to c2ccertified.org

> Go to our sustainability documentation

What is Cradle to Cradle?

Just as in nature, with Cradle to Cradle there is no waste, no shortages and no limitations. It is a design concept predicated on the unlimited reuse of raw materials (‘waste is food’), the use of renewable energy and the stimulation of diversity. The goal is to launch a new industrial revolution which ensures that production and manufacturing have a positive impact on society, the economy and our planet.

Cradle to Cradle was developed by Prof. Michael Braungart (EPEA) and architect William McDonough (MBDC) and has since become a well-known sustainability concept. The Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute (C2CPII) was founded in 2011 and manages the Cradle to Cradle product standard. Headquartered in San Francisco, the institute is led by an independent board of directors.

Cradle to Cradle V3.1 certifications

Mosa has Cradle to Cradle Certified® Gold certifications for nearly all its wall and floor tiles. These have been certified to the new 3.1 standards, in which the requirements for all five criteria have been expanded and heightened even further. The certificates also lists the (few) exceptions which are not certified. These concern mainly a few specific wall tile colour shades as well as Mosa Colors 10 x 10 centimeters and the Kho Liang Ie collection.

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Cradle to Cradle at Mosa

In the Cradle to Cradle programme, products are assessed based on five criteria:

  • purity of raw materials;
  • recycling;
  • energy usage;
  • water usage;
  • social conditions.

 

Pure materials

The basis of Cradle to Cradle is the use of pure raw materials that do not harm the environment nor human health. The main components of tiles are clay and sand – natural ingredients that are abundantly present in nature. The composition of our tiles is analysed down to the ppm level (parts per million). Mosa tiles do not release toxic substances, such as lead, mercury or cadmium during or after their long service life. Moreover, they are VOC free.

Optimal recycling

Is the product suitable for (unlimited) reuse? Are products actually recycled? These are the things that Cradle to Cradle looks for. By using pure raw materials we can say yes to the first question. Mosa strives to achieve the second by reusing production waste, processing secondary materials and collecting cutting waste from tiles at the larger projects in the Netherlands. The wall tiles contain 34 percent pre-consumer recycled content and the floor tiles contain 21 or 45 percent, making Mosa tiles suitable for reuse in a circular production cycle.

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Energy management

Cradle to Cradle is not just about the amount of energy used, it is also about the source of that energy – because renewable energy sources are limitless. Green energy now covers a third of our energy needs. We continue to expand this and we are currently searching for an alternative source for the natural gas used to heat the kilns. Until this source becomes available, we will focus on energy-saving projects and the reuse of residual heat. This has enabled us to reduce CO² emissions by 48 percent over the last ten years; fine particulate emissions have dropped by 91 percent to almost zero.

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Water management

Cradle to Cradle views water as a scarce and precious resource, which must be handled properly. Reuse is essential to this. Mosa’s goal is to ensure that all water used in the production process is reused or evaporated by 2020. More steps are being taken every year to achieve this goal. The production cycles are now closed-loop and all the water for both our factories is purified on site, which means we require 60 percent less water than before 2010.

Social conditions

Cradle to Cradle requires the manufacturer and its suppliers to operate under good working conditions. Mosa consciously opts to continue its sustainable production in Western Europe, where it is close to important consumer markets and can use materials from the area: almost 90 percent of our raw materials come from monitored quarries in the region. By making a product locally that fits with both contemporary and future architecture, Mosa is remaining loyal to its birthplace: Maastricht.