/ Magazine / Other Articles / ASSOSISTEMA – CONFINDUSTRIA, Squassina takes over as president

ASSOSISTEMA – CONFINDUSTRIA, Squassina takes over as president

Marco Squassina is the new President of Assosistema – Confindustria (ltalian Employers' Confederation), succeeding Egidio Paoletti, whose four-year term was marked by significant challenges, including the health crisis and the surge in energy costs - both of which severely tested the resilience of many industrial sectors. With over twenty-five years of experience in the industrial laundry sector, Marco Squassina has held various roles, including in quality control, contract management, and commercial operations. These roles have helped him develop a multifaceted and versatile skill set. In recent years, he has worked for “Servizi Italia” (Services Italy), where he also addressed legal and privacy-related matters.

Squassina joined Assosistema before the turn of the century. He first served as President of the "Sezione Dispositivi Medici" (Medical Devices Section), and since 2021, has led the “Servizi Sanitari Integrati” (Integrated Healthcare Services Section). Assosistema represents industrial laundries across diverse sectors, including healthcare and hospital services, tourism, catering and hospitality, workwear, and PPE - each with its own distinct needs and operational dynamics. These sectors are varied and complex. We meet the new President at the start of his term to discuss the most pressing issues he will face in the weeks ahead.

President Squassina, in your inauguration speech, you spoke about the need for a “vision”. Could you elaborate on what you speciically mean by that?

“Having a vision means deepening our understanding of potential future scenarios in order to anticipate key issues and trends and take appropriate action. The scenarios we explore must be supported by objective data to guide our decisions over time. The more knowledge we acquire, the more effectively we can strategize and optimize our choices. This vision must involve all players in the sector's value chain”.

Your professional experience, as we mentioned, has been primarily in the healthcare services sector. What are the key priorities in this ield, and what methods and tools do you consider essential for addressing them?

“The most important and high-priority issues in the public health sector concern both economic and legislative aspects.

From an economic perspective, it is essential for Procurement Centers/Contracting Authorities to specify in tenders the consumption of devices involved in the laundry and rental services provided by companies in the sector. Currently, the base prices established for tenders do not reflect the true value of the services provided. For example, the metric "hospitalization days”, in its various forms, is a key indicator of the activity carried out by healthcare facilities.

To establish the true value of the service provided, it is necessary to define a "goods and services basket", which, in this case, would be expressed in terms of the quantity of devices.

On the legislative side, several issues remain, primarily because the Public Contracts Code (Legislative Decree 36/2023) is, and continues to be, even after its revision, a legal framework designed to regulate public works, and is therefore not fully aligned with the services sector.

ln this regard, for example, consider eliminating the obligation to conduct procedures with price/quality tenders minimum scoring limits. The revised Article 60, which, compared to public works, penalizes the services sector, means that contracts in this sector will never be updated to reflect changes in revaluation ratings”.

What are the key needs and issues in the tourism, food & catering, and hospitality sectors that need to be addressed?

“The tourism sector, particularly the food & catering and hospitality industries, is recovering volumes after the challenges posed by the pandemic, thanks in part to the increased interest from tourist flows to our country.

Despite the high quality of services provided, one of the main daily issues is the growing use of disposable table linen (tablecloths and napkins) in restaurants. Given the negative environmental impact of disposable products, it will be crucial to raise awareness and sensitivity among customers, encouraging them to prefer reusable table linen with a low environmental footprint.

As a result, the sector is adopting a “green” approach (see ESG – Environmental, Social, and Governance – also known as Sustainability Rating), aligning with industry trends.

Our companies have always supported environmental sustainability by promoting best practices—an approach that will be crucial in the future, including in private contracts, where no legal obligations currently exist. Additionally, they are preparing for a shift in the use of packaging, with the mandatory introduction of recycled materials, as required by the new European regulation approved in April 2024.

For this reason, our member companies are working on initiatives to recover polyethylene used in the distribution of linen to customers, embracing a circular approach that will extend beyond linen to include packaging, which is essential for maintaining microbiological quality during transport.

As part of promoting good environmental practices, we aim to create synergies with other associations in the tourism and hospitality sectors, such as Confindustria Alberghi (ltalian Hotel Industry Confederation), AIFL (Italian Association of Laundry Suppliers), FIPE (Italian Federation of Public Establishments), Federalberghi (Italian Federation of Hotels)”.

Now, let's talk about workwear and PPE (Personal Protective Equipment). We know that European regulations governing the use of these items are becoming increasingly strict. What are your thoughts on this?

"We will continue to invest our efforts in raising awareness about the importance of workwear and PPE rental and care. We must combat the practice of washing work uniforms - and even more so PPE - at home, given the responsibilities that come with it. It is important to emphasize that these items, if not reconditioned or checked according to the manufacturer's specifications, lose their quality and intended functionality. Therefore, it is essential to promote the development of a regulatory framework that encourages companies and organizations to adopt a professional clothing maintenance service. To achieve this goal, it is crucial to involve and raise awareness among administrations and trade unions”.

In a few months, negotiations will begin for the renewal of the National Collective Labour Agreement (CCNL) for industrial laundries. What are the key areas that need intervention,

and what are your requests to improve productivity, working conditions, and ensure the CCNL aligns more closely with market developments? More speciically, laundries are still struggling to ind personnel and are often relying on temporary labour. How do you think this critical challenge should be addressed?

“Certainly, one of the fundamental issues across all sectors is the shortage of labor supply, both in quantitative and qualitative terms. Today, the demand/supply gap has become critical for economic growth and development. The industrial laundry sector is no exception, suffering from its negative effects. Therefore, there is a need to make the sector more attractive by understanding labor supply trends, not only through specific training programs but also through workforce inclusion initiatives. Aspects such as work-life balance, corporate welfare, and the quality of the working environment have already become central themes that the sector is addressing and will continue to develop. The issue of increasing productivity, as a key element of competitiveness, is also ever-present across all industrial sectors. Certainly, continuous technological updates will support performance growth”.

You mentioned the need for laundries to manage the digital and technological transition effectively. In this context, what role could artiicial intelligence play in industrial laundries?

"Artificial intelligence and cybersecurity are expected to be the sectors that experience exponential growth in the next decade. ln the industrial laundry sector, artificial intelligence and the digital transition will also play a key role in the industry's development and expansion. The application of artificial intelligence and the advancement of digital transformation will be crucial in client relations, as it will enable the customization of services to align with clients' workflows, reduce waste, track items, boost productivity, and achieve economies of scale in both production and logistics”

Read also

Laundry Laboratories

December 2025

Care and maintenance of technical garments: operating guidelines