Alterego , the eco- friendly surf board produced in Alghero challenges the market

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After studies, research, surveys and technical tests, the eco- friendly surf revolution is ready for the market challenge. The market debut of the new "made in Alghero"cork-made boards took place only a few days ago on alteregosurf.com, in the best surf shops and specialist dealers throughout Europe. The new product is called "Alterego" and has very deep Sardinian roots. Its founder, Alessandro Danese, and the rest of the partners are based in the Ungias –Galanté industrial district, at the gates of the Catalan-speaking city of Alghero. Innovation, environmental sustainability, performance: In the dreams of their creators and manufacturers, the tables produced in the Coral Riviera are ready to draw a line between past and future, combining the care for environment with maximum sporting performance. It is precisely with the aim of creating a high-tech, custom-built and environmentally sustainable product that the table, which uses the most advanced and zero kilometre cork and materials, is born; a board ready to ride the waves, guaranteeing flexibility and performance but with a green soul.

"For us, sustainability is not a fashion, but a constant in all aspects of the production cycle," says Alessandro Danese, general manager of the company. "Our company recycles more than 80% of its production waste and the boardis using EPS blocks, a sintered expanded polystyrene that we buy in Ottana". Each board is then "laminated with a bio-resin while the supporting structure is made with the cork we buy in Gallura, a ductile and elastic material".

 

Alterego is a dream that came true in 2017 thanks to the investment of its founders Italian Waves and the contribution of Invitalia. Today the company continues to carry out research, guided by a sustainable mentality and with the aim of producing fast and stable boards. "We are constantly engaged in research and development of alternative materials to those produced by chemical, polluting and harmful substances”. The official awards have already arrived, starting with the final won at the Costa Smeralda Award in the Blue Innovation section. "Our team is made up of young Sardinians with a solid professional experience," assures Danese. “The production line is headed by Michele Piga, a lamination expert with a professional background in the yacht sector. The finished boards are continuously tested in the water by Giovanni Cossu, one of the strongest athletes in Sardinia, Andrea Costa, a young Ligurian athlete who participates in the Italian championship and Fabrizio Piga a kitesurfer involved in the Italian tournaments.

A fundamental part of the research is entrusted to Luca Oggiano, an engineer who shares his time between Norway and Australia. From Alghero to the world. "We never set boundaries and we are constantly on the move - says the engineer - we build collaborations in Europe and in the world, where surfers are counted in millions, and we are working to offer a 100% recyclable surf board".

As for the market, “we are certainly aiming for Italian surfers, but above all for those who sail the ocean. Our goal is to develop the company to demonstrate that it is possible to change the production model of surfboards in a constantly expanding market that is worth every year more. We want to make clear that it is possible to abandon polluting materials", is the consideration of Alessandro Danese, according to whom "the surfers and, above all the sea, the ocean, our beaches and our coasts deserve this effort- as he concludes – these are the places that surfers love and frequent intensely, and we all have a duty to preserve them”.

20/05/2019