Milan, 5 April 2022 – Wood, a biodegradable and recyclable material, becomes the star of cards and sustainable smart cards with a unique design. Partitalia Srl, an Italian ICT company established in 2001 that manufactures and markets smart cards, tags, RFID readers and IoT solutions throughout Europe, enriches its commercial range with wooden cards to meet the ever increasing number of companies actively committed to protecting the environment through concrete actions. Like Minto Sushi Gourmet, an exclusive sushi restaurant & delivery in Merano (Bolzano), which renewed its gift cards by choosing wooden cards by Partitalia last December.
Damiano Agreiter: ‘Unique eco-friendly cards in line with our philosophy’
‘Since we started the business in 2019, we decided to make our restaurant as eco-friendly as possible,’ says Damiano Agreiter, owner and co-founder of Minto Sushi Gourmet, together with chef Luca Wang. We are located in South Tyrol, where the topic of waste separation and proper waste disposal are deeply felt by citizens. We do our part by packing food for delivery in 90% recyclable cardboard packaging, which can be easily disposed of by customers. So even for gift cards, it was essential for us to choose a low-impact product in line with the restaurant’s philosophy.’
Hence, Minto Sushi purchased a thousand wooden cards for the Christmas holidays: ‘We needed to replace the old Paperboard gift cards with more elegant ones that would better represent what we are doing, and we found that wooden cards would be perfect. In fact, wood is very present in the interior, in the furniture and decorative elements. We chose bamboo since it is reminiscent of Asian culture and the evocative Japanese forests.’
The gift cards were customised using laser technology to engrave the logo for a totally eco-friendly result. ‘Customers were pleasantly surprised by the novelty — with the natural grain of the wood, no two cards are the same. They saw it as an opportunity to give a special gift to loved ones, giving not only a restaurant and delivery voucher to sushi lovers, but also a pretty card that was absolutely unique, an item to be kept over time.’
Sustainability and Durability
Available in maple, cherry and lime, as well as bamboo, wooden cards by Partitalia can be used in the loyalty realm to create loyalty and gift cards, which are popular in the retail, mass distribution and catering sectors. RFID technology, which is useful for access control at hotels and the hospitality sector, can also be integrated into the cards.
The important mechanical properties of wood ensure that cards and smart cards made of this material are strong and durable, while maintaining standard dimensions and thicknesses. This is another step forward in the work of Partitalia's R&D team, which has long been committed to researching alternative materials, to provide the market products with excellent technical performance, while respecting the planet.
