Alessandro Acotto, from Vische, has been running a pellet production company in Tonengo di Mazzè for five years
VISCHE. First a fire, then the pandemic, but the imperative is always to move forward. Alessandro Acotto, 39 years old from Vische, has been managing a pellet production company in Tonengo di Mazzè for five years. Graduated from the professional school of Castelrosso, Acotto entered the world of work by working as a blacksmith for a few years, then out of curiosity he fell in love with the world of pellet stoves. «I was fascinated by the functioning of the pellet stove that my father Franco had – explains Acotto – and so I wanted to start to understand more, initially wanting to produce pellets for personal use only. I liked the mechanism of production, as it was possible that a simple sawdust could be transformed into small circular segments pressed and used for domestic heating (pellet stove) and sanitary (hydro pellet stove) ». “The first place where I was able to produce pellets was at my home – he continues – then unfortunately on 26 September 2018 the event that could forever change my relationship with this work: a fire, not caused by the pellet production machinery , swept everything away, but not my desire to continue. I was practically stopped until August 2019, before slowly resuming pellet production, but in Tonengo di Mazzè ». «Nothing could affect me – comments Acotto – because this work fills me with pride every day and I strongly believe in this project. After the fire I made heavy investments because I had to find a new accommodation, fortunately I found some premises in Tonengo di Mazzè and moved: on my path, however, this time, after the fire, the pandemic struck, but not even this new criticality has knocked me down, indeed. From February 2020 to today I have worked, trying as much as possible to stay afloat and this is the most important aspect ».
Acotto has done his utmost. Over time he has learned to provide for the maintenance of equipment and repairs on his own. «When I notice a non-optimal operation of a machine, from the pellet machine, to the binder and to the palletizer (it packs the plateau of pellets ready to be shipped with a special cellophane) if I can repair it directly I can organize the work better – says Acott -. I am also planning the construction of a new pellet machine that can produce two hundred and twenty kg of pellets in one hour using a seven kW motor and that can be a support to the existing one, which instead produces only one hundred kg of pellets using a ten Kwatt engine ».
Acotto then focuses on the future of the company and the objectives he would like to achieve in the next few years: “It takes courage to set up this type of company – Acotto admits – but what pushed me most to enter this world, beyond passion, it was certainly that of wanting to give a future to my son Francesco, just ten years old. He likes sawdust, he plays with it. Let’s let him play, hoping one day the spark will escape him too, pardon the passion, for this type of work ».
«The future goal – concludes Acotto – is to produce ten tons of pellets per day. Currently, from September 2020 to April 2021 I managed to produce about four hundred tons of pellets, while from May to the end of the year the forecast is to make a thousand tons: I am already working with customers for the pre-season. The biggest problem, at the moment, is finding the raw material, sawdust and wood chips, because in Italy it is difficult to find it: very often the sawdust comes from wood scraps, instead of using, for example, a fir and oak plant exclusively for make the sawdust and then put it inside a hopper for the final realization of the pellet ». –
Loris Ponsetto