Mr. Luigi Di Geso of MAPEI and Margo Dawley of American Forests’ Global ReLeaf program present a “golden shovel” to Mr. Robert Thomas and Mr. L.A. Train of Swiff-Train Company. (L-R: Luigi Di Geso, Robert Thomas, L.A. Train, Margo Dawley)


In 2010 MAPEI, a world leader in the manufacture of adhesives, sealants and chemical products for the building industry participated in the Global ReLeaf program with American Forests, the nation’s oldest citizen-based environmental organization. . As part of a socially sustainable promotion for its new urethane wood adhesives product line, MAPEI committed to contributing one dollar from every wood urethane product sold to American Forests’ Global ReLeaf program. Each dollar represents one tree planted to help reforest areas lost to fires and other disasters. MAPEI contributed almost $225,000 for the year.

Environmental care means more to MAPEI than a simple image enhancer; rather, it is a fundamental part of the company’s philosophy, its corporate commitment and its industrial responsibility. For this reason, MAPEI works continuously on the development of products that are environmentally friendly.  Foremost in these efforts is MAPEI’s Ultrabond ECO ® line, a broad range of products with extremely low VOC (volatile organic compounds) emissions for the installation of floor-covering materials of all types.

The latest addition to the Ultrabond ECO brand is MAPEI’s line of urethane wood-flooring adhesives. Phthalate-free formulations, based on the use of rapidly renewable materials, have been incorporated into Ultrabond ECO 995, Ultrabond ECO 990, Ultrabond ECO 980 and Ultrabond ECO 975 adhesives to provide a wide range of bonding systems for nail-free wood flooring. Virtually odor-free, these eco-friendly products help contribute to the attainment of LEED points for green building projects, specifically in the areas of indoor environmental quality related to low-emitting materials (IEQ Credit 4) and the use of rapidly renewable materials (MR Credit 6). MAPEI has recently added Ultrabond ECO 985 to the line, a 3-in-1 wood adhesive that also provides moisture control and sound-reduction properties to wood flooring installations.

During the 2011 Surfaces Trade Show in Las Vegas, MAPEI recognized distributors who participated in the American Forests Global ReLeaf program. MAPEI Americas President and CEO Luigi Di Geso awarded “golden shovels” to representatives from the top three companies: Mr. Michael Kort of Lumber Liquidators, Mr. L.A. Train and Mr. Robert Thomas of Swiff-Train Company, and Mr. Jim Christian of C&C Whole Supply, Inc. “These shovels represent the acres of trees that American Forests volunteers planted as a result these companies’ sales of MAPEI wood adhesive products in 2010,” Di Geso said. “Thanks to their efforts and the efforts of all our distributors who took part in this project, we exceeded our goal of 200,000 trees. We are very proud that MAPEI products played an important role in this environmental effort.”