The European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Hera Group have finalized a loan agreement of 110 million euro aimed at supporting the development program for the period 2017-2021 of the Italian multi-utility listed on the Milan Stock Exchange.
Through the loan, in particular, the Bank of the European Union has chosen to finance 19 projects relating to the waste cycle chain which are in line with Community directives and envisage interventions in various Italian regions. The cost of these projects, amounting to approximately 227 million euros, will thus be covered by 50% of the EIB financing.
Specifically, the credit line will be intended to further improve the performance of Hera's environmental services, with particular reference to the increase in the separate waste collection rates indicated by the regional objectives of the areas served, but also those of Herambiente, the leading Hera Group company in Italy in the treatment, recycling and recovery of waste. The Group aims to further increase the efficiency of its processes and to improve the sustainability standards of its fleet of plants, whose emissions – moreover – are already far below the legal limits.
With this loan, which is part of EIB policies, new resources are therefore put at the service of the transition towards the circular economy model, a transition on which Hera has been working for some time as evidenced by its entry into CE100, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation program which brings together the 100 most active realities on this front worldwide.
Furthermore, a further element of positivity is represented by the related industries and the impact on employment which, in the period of implementation of the multi-year investment plan of the Hera Group, is estimated to contribute to strengthening the growth of the economies of the territories concerned.
For the Hera Group, the transaction represents an important contribution to the consolidation of its financial structure and follows on from the collaboration established over time between the EIB and the multi-utility: in recent years, in fact, another four transactions have been signed between the EIB and Hera (for investments in the environment and networks) for a total of over 700 million euros.
