Resources and environment
The Group operates production plants in diverse geographical areas and interacts with different and constantly evolving regulatory entities, particularly in more developed countries. In any case, an approach has been adopted to minimise environmental risk by aligning all operating units to the most rigorous standards inspired by European regulations, irrespective of whether local regulations permit different levels of freedom.
This strategy aims to maintain a high level of confidence among local stakeholders, primarily local authorities and employees, as regards the Group's ability to reduce the environmental impact of its production activities, operating with a constant commitment to the adoption of the most suitable technical solutions.
As regards energy, the targets pursued by the Group to reduce industrial costs translate into the constant drive to achieve increasingly higher standards of energy efficiency and the definition of the approach and methodology to be implemented to reduce energy intensity, energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions produced by the Group's activities.
The effective implementation of these methodologies helps to control costs, limit indirect environmental impact, including as regards emissions, and reduce the need for technical supporting infrastructures. Carraro is especially focused on:
analysis of regulatory systems and public incentivisation schemes (e.g. green certificates);
study of alternative energy generation systems (e.g. co-generation plants);
renegotiation of energy supply contracts with renewable energy providers;
evaluation of the viability of investments in low-energy lighting systems.
As regards the selection of energy suppliers for Italian sites, in 2017 the target to source 100% of all energy from renewable energy sources was achieved.
All local organisations must comply with the regulations and laws issued by the authorities as well as the Standard Practices indicated in the Group's EH&S Management System.
The aim of the Standard Practices is to define the activities necessary to effectively control possible pollution sources through the use of appropriate parameters, tools and management methods, promoting technologies that enable effective monitoring.
The EH&S Management System outlines an annual Assessment Programme aimed at assessing the level of implementation or performance in order to measure the effectiveness of the management system and monitor compliance with environmental aspects.
The Standard Practices define, inter alia, the activities necessary to control emission sources through the use of engineering and management best practices, and promote the use of technologies to control atmospheric pollution. The EH&S policies of the Carraro Group provide that in the case of accidental release of greenhouse gases (GHG), an investigation will be carried out to determine the cause and identify appropriate corrective measures to prevent the incident from happening again.
With an annual production of over five million items across nine manufacturing sites, the Group produces approximately 14,000 tonnes of industrial waste each year.
Reducing the amount of waste produced has always been a priority in the definition of company policies.
Since 2014, specific waste reduction programmes have been implemented, focusing particularly on non-recyclable waste. These initiatives have led to a 11.6% reduction in recyclable waste and a 26.9% reduction in non-recyclable waste since their introduction (data for 2014-2018).
The commitment of the Carraro Group in this regard continued in 2016 with the requirement for all local production units to explicitly commit to the implementation of solutions that allow the reuse of materials, such as the adoption of recyclable containers for the transport of raw materials and semi-finished products. A continuous review of supply chain processes was also promoted in order to optimise the inbound flow of raw materials and reduce wastage through solutions such as the rescaling of raw materials to reduce off-cuts generated by the machining process at the Maniago plant.
The availability of water to adequately or sufficiently meet the demands of the region is becoming an urgent problem in many parts of the world and is an increasing concern at some of our most significant plants and the surrounding communities. The companies of the Carraro Group are committed to improving their production processes in order to maintain the use of drinking water within sustainable limits in relation to the area in which they operate.
As envisaged by the Group policy, all production sites must prepare a monthly report on water usage to be submitted to the EH&S department of the Parent Company, and monitor water losses regardless of the size of the site or the availability of the local water supply.
According to the size of the site and the availability of water resources, local organisations are responsible for the implementation of solutions and practices aimed at more efficient water usage.