The circular economy is no longer conceivable in terms of pure waste management and must embrace an integrated set of issues, which includes eco-design in product design, the maintenance of resources in use and the regeneration of natural capital. Of this of is held at the conference "The ecosystem and its unity: a challenge for a sustainable future”, held on Sunday at the Hera Group headquarters in Bologna. Organized on the occasion of the European Week for Sustainable Development, the event was attended by the President of the Emilia-Romagna Region Stefano Bonaccini.
The multi-utility illustrated the main contents of its own sustainability report, from which it emerges that the shared value, i.e. the share of gross operating margin deriving from activities that generate operating margins for the company and also respond to 10 of the 17 sustainability objectives indicated in the Global Agenda. This share, up by 10% compared to 2016, amounted to 2017 million euros in 329 (1/3 of the total EBITDA) and the goal is to bring it to 40% of EBITDA by 2021.
In 2017, investments contributed to the development of shared value for 200 million euros. The main interventions include the construction in Sant'Agata Bolognese of a plant for the production of biomethane from the organic fraction of waste. Added to this is the development of waste recycling through the companies Aliplast and Waste Recycling. The picture is completed by the enhancement of the wastewater purification service, the digitization of services from a utility 4.0 perspective and investments in innovation to make networks increasingly smarter.
Considering, in addition to suppliers, also workers, shareholders, lenders, banking institutions, public administration and local communities, we obtain an audience of stakeholders to which in 2017 alone an economic value equal to almost 2 billion euros, an increase of 6,5% on 2016. Supplies from social cooperatives have enabled the employment of over 800 disadvantaged people.
“Speaking of ecosystems today – he says Tomaso Tommasi of Vignano, executive chairman of the Hera Group – we intend to reiterate the need to continue to work as a team with the territory and its various players, combining environmental, economic and social issues”.
Secondo Stefano Venier, Chief Executive Officer of the Hera Group, "current climate change presents us with a challenge that can no longer be postponed, which questions multiutilities in particular and their ability to operate across the board to encourage and trigger virtuous processes, in which an important moment of confrontation such as that today fits more than conveniently. On the other hand, the need for radical changes must be combined with a progressive transition, which does not jeopardize the essential conditions of social well-being”.
