Àltima faces All Saints with a commitment to improving services and preserving the environment
28th October 2015.- As a company committed to the environment and the use of sustainable resources, the funeral services group Àltima has conducted a study to calculate its carbon footprint, thus becoming the first Spanish company in the funeral sector to analyse its environmental impact. This study, carried out in collaboration with Inèdit, Sostenipra, and the Autonomous University of Barcelona, specifically measures the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions produced as a consequence of the services and products offered by Àltima. It has been conducted from a global perspective, examining all the company's facilities (funeral homes, cemeteries under concession, and crematoriums) and both direct and indirect processes, such as employee travel, the wood used for coffins, and the chemicals used in embalming.
As part of its Corporate Social Responsibility, Àltima maintains environmental management policies across all its companies with the aim of saving resources and minimising waste production. Additionally, it holds the ISO 14001-2004 quality certification for all the cemeteries it manages, including the Roques Blanques Cemetery, which was awarded the Best Environmental Initiative in Spain in 2015 by the funeral magazine Adiós. Located in El Papiol within the Collserola Natural Park, Roques Blanques is a pioneer in ecological burial initiatives and undertakes projects to protect native flora and fauna. The Forest of Calm, the Family Tree, and the Garden of Rest are areas within the cemetery where the use of biodegradable urns, such as the salt urn, which is included in Àltima’s regular catalogue, is encouraged.
More personalised than ever
Following the line of offering better service and highly personalised products, the funeral group offers the option to upholster the interior of certain coffins from its extensive catalogue to suit the family's preferences, making them more personal and close. Customers can choose from 10 different models made of materials such as natural cotton, poplin, and Indian silk. Another option is to add a decorative trim around the perimeter, with the colours of the Catalan flag, the Spanish flag, the Andalusian flag, or the Barcelona football club colours, for example.
The upholstery service responds to a growing demand for the individualisation of such funeral products. Since its introduction in April, 20% of the coffins requested have featured personalised upholstery. This innovation adds to the personalised urn service with vinyl, presented last year, where the family can choose from 16 pre-determined designs classified into different themes (sports, traditions, music, religion, and nature) or select a custom image.
Using technology to honour and preserve the memory
In mid-year, Àltima revamped its website to offer better content and make it more accessible, transparent, and interactive. The main novelty of the portal is the Memorial Space service, a virtual place where users can share different types of materials (texts, photos, videos, and condolence notes) about the deceased, in blog format and privately. This is a pioneering case in our country of how to use digital tools to honour a loved one, preserving their memory within an intimate, easily accessible, and secure space, where only those authorised by the space administrator can access.
Àltima is a clear example of how to link the Internet world with the funeral industry to offer a better service adapted to the current context. In addition to the Memorial Space, families can use the website to contract services, check recent deaths, send condolence notes, and order flowers online. The company also offers the possibility of live streaming ceremonies and provides digital trace removal services, searching for all existing information on the web and giving the family the option to delete the deceased’s online profiles and accounts. “We live in a digital environment, and families are increasingly accustomed to using technology. Therefore, it is essential for us to adapt to demand and offer this type of 2.0 service,” says Josep Ventura, Director of Funeral Services at Àltima.
For families looking for an innovative way to preserve the memory of their loved one, Àltima includes Omneo in its catalogue. This is a rectangular urn with a soft touch, made by solidifying the ashes of the deceased, and incorporates specific technology that allows access to their obituary by simply passing a mobile phone over it. This information is stored on the website omline.com, where different types of materials can be included (photos, in memoriam videos, messages left by the deceased) and even anniversary notifications can be scheduled.