Summary
• Vicaima was founded in 1959.
• It reduced carbon emissions by 290 tonnes last year.
• It recycles and reuses 80% of its waste materials on site.
• Doors from its Vicaima Bespoke division include the new Black & White Collection.

Fifty years old this year, Vicaima has grown to become one of the largest manufacturers of interior timber doors in Europe, employing around 1,100 people, producing 1.5 million doors annually and recording a sales turnover of €72m in 2008. The company has its headquarters and main centre of production in Vale de Cambra, in northern Portugal, and also operates a large distribution centre in the UK where it stocks 100,000 doors in 750 product lines.

Vicaima attributes its success to a product development strategy focused on “security, style and quality. It’s an approach that has seen it win customers in over 20 markets around the world, with exports now accounting for 80% of production.

Its client base is as varied as its product range with the company supplying doors to major property developers, local authorities, housing associations, commercial premises, schools, hospitals and hotels.

Doors are manufactured in a selection of attractive veneer finishes including maple, sapele, cherry, eucalyptus, walnut, ebony, oak, beech, ash, teak, wenge, walnut and zebrano. And Vicaima UK announced that it is to launch a separate division, Vicaima Bespoke, which will enable it to move into the architectural doorset market.

However, it isn’t only in the design and manufacturing of timber doors where Vicaima is taking a lead. The company recognises its corporate responsibility towards protecting the environment and has implemented a major environmental policy to drastically reduce carbon emissions.

Protecting the environment

Vicaima’s environmental policy is an ongoing initiative that to date represents an investment of €3m and has resulted in the company receiving ISO 14001 certification for its environmental performance.

In 2008, the latest stage of the policy saw the company meet its ambitious target of reducing carbon emissions by 290 tonnes. This was achieved by increasing energy efficiency throughout all areas of production. The overall cost amounted to €700,000 but Vicaima believes this a worthwhile investment, as not only is it better for the environment, but energy costs are reduced too.

Some of the measures taken included purchasing highly efficient, automatic control waste extraction machinery; reducing compressed air consumption; the implementation of automatic control systems for the extraction of residues in the production lines; and improving lighting efficiency. These measures alone reduced carbon emissions by more than 150 tonnes.

Some time ago Vicaima built its own residual water treatment station which resulted in a reduction in pollution of 90%. Equally impressive has been the significant decrease in the level of solvents used in the production process due to the installation of an ecological UV line. New dust extraction equipment has also been installed, along with new residue collection systems, which enable the company to recycle and reuse 80% of these waste materials on site. Other steps to further improve the company’s environmental performance are being explored, including how best to tackle the problem of noise pollution.

Vicaima has also taken a serious look at the way it sources its principal raw material – timber. It is now company policy, wherever possible, to source timber from sustainable forests. This has resulted in Vicaima becoming the first company in Portugal to be awarded Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification.

Vicaima is also a member of the The Forest Trust (TFT) (formerly The Tropical Forest Trust). A registered charity, the TFT promotes the conservation of tropical forests by advising its members on the source of their timber to ensure it is cut from well-managed forests, and that any indigenous people benefit from the long-term economic viability of the forest.

Sustainable sources

Sourcing raw materials from sustainable and easily renewable forests has resulted in Vicaima launching products such as Dekordor Heavy Duty CPL and Dekordor Severe Duty (SD), both of which are FSC certified. Doors in these ranges, it maintains, are in line with the UK government’s Code for Sustainable Homes and meet the growing demand for eco-friendly products in the construction industry generally.

With sales of the FSC ranges already exceeding 100,000 units and demand increasing daily, Vicaima says that it has also shown that a commitment to lessening the impact its business has on the environment does not have to be at the expense of commercial success.