RadiciGroup at the General Assembly of Green Economy 2014
On 5 and 6 November, more than 100 speakers – from numerous organizations including RadiciGroup – gave presentations at this year’s General Assembly of the Green Economy, a conference attended by about 2,000 people, held during ECOMONDO, the 18th International Trade Fair of Material and Energy Recovery and Sustainable Development (Rimini, from 5 to 8 November). The speakers represented a broad spectrum of society: institutions, businesses, research organizations and associations.
The conference was an important two-day event focusing on the policies and measures needed to support Italian companies in their green economy development efforts. The companies were the real main players of the two-day General Assembly of the Green Economy, which comprised seven thematic sessions for in-depth discussion: eco-friendly agrifoods, eco-innovation and competitiveness of Italian businesses, natural capital, economic savings of waste recycling, energy and climate, sustainable water resource management and, lastly, from carbon footprint to environmental footprint.
The RadiciGroup presentation was part of the seventh session on carbon and environmental footprints and illustrated the Group’s experience using the Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) method, set forth in the 2013 European Commission Recommendations “on the use of common methods to measure and communicate the life cycle environmental performance of products and organizations”.
In July 2013, Radici Chimica SpA, a RadiciGroup chemical company engaged in the production of polyamide 6.6 and related intermediates, signed a voluntary agreement with the Italian Ministry for the Environment to join a collaboration programme with the Ministry and other businesses to promote emissions reduction and the wider adoption of sustainable models for production and consumption. The object of the agreement was to use the PEF method to assess, measure and quantify the reduction in the environmental impact of polyamide 6.6 and its intermediates, which was achieved through an emission abatement plant built at the Group’s Novara production site.
“In our talk we reported our results on emissions reduction using the impact categories of the PEF methodology,” Stefano Alini, corporate quality manager of RadiciGroup, said. “We focused our attention on the practical aspects of this method to assess its application in the field, on the difficulties that must still be overcome in order to make the method more user friendly, and, most importantly, on the results achieved in improving the effectiveness of our communications on the sustainability policy we have been following for years now.”
Mr. Alini concluded his presentation by reporting the main results of RadiciGroup’s PEF experimentation: “The changes we made to the Radici Chimica plant for the production of nitric acid and adipic acid led to a significant drop in greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions. A comparison of 2011 values with the values measured in 2014 shows a 63% reduction in GHG emissions for nitric acid and a 33% reduction for adipic acid. The PEF methodology has brought to light significant improvement in other indicators as well, such as acidification, terrestrial eutrophication and photochemical ozone formation, and has shown that there were no negative environmental impacts on other environmental matrices.”
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The RadiciGroup presentation was part of the seventh session on carbon and environmental footprints and illustrated the Group’s experience using the Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) method, set forth in the 2013 European Commission Recommendations “on the use of common methods to measure and communicate the life cycle environmental performance of products and organizations”.
In July 2013, Radici Chimica SpA, a RadiciGroup chemical company engaged in the production of polyamide 6.6 and related intermediates, signed a voluntary agreement with the Italian Ministry for the Environment to join a collaboration programme with the Ministry and other businesses to promote emissions reduction and the wider adoption of sustainable models for production and consumption. The object of the agreement was to use the PEF method to assess, measure and quantify the reduction in the environmental impact of polyamide 6.6 and its intermediates, which was achieved through an emission abatement plant built at the Group’s Novara production site.
“In our talk we reported our results on emissions reduction using the impact categories of the PEF methodology,” Stefano Alini, corporate quality manager of RadiciGroup, said. “We focused our attention on the practical aspects of this method to assess its application in the field, on the difficulties that must still be overcome in order to make the method more user friendly, and, most importantly, on the results achieved in improving the effectiveness of our communications on the sustainability policy we have been following for years now.”
Mr. Alini concluded his presentation by reporting the main results of RadiciGroup’s PEF experimentation: “The changes we made to the Radici Chimica plant for the production of nitric acid and adipic acid led to a significant drop in greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions. A comparison of 2011 values with the values measured in 2014 shows a 63% reduction in GHG emissions for nitric acid and a 33% reduction for adipic acid. The PEF methodology has brought to light significant improvement in other indicators as well, such as acidification, terrestrial eutrophication and photochemical ozone formation, and has shown that there were no negative environmental impacts on other environmental matrices.”
MORE INFO: PRESS RELEASE
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