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Prysmian Group – 2015 Sustainability Report
Environment
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Prysmian and the environment
Commitment to safeguarding the environment and conserving natural resources is essential for the
creation of sustainable value by the Group, for the benefit of both the organisation and our
stakeholders.
The Group's commitment to safeguarding the environment and conserving natural resources is expressed
not only by the intrinsic characteristics of our products, but also by how our production systems are
managed. In particular, the prevention and reduction of their environmental impact is achieved, for example,
by the efficient use of natural resources, the optimisation of logistics flows and the responsible management
of waste.
Considering the environmental aspects deemed significant at Group level, Prysmian's Health, Safety &
Environment function (also "HSE") worked with other business functions to establish the HSE objectives for
2015, which were endorsed by the Board of Directors. These objectives - and, where possible, the related
numerical targets - were communicated to all country and business managers at an update seminar held in
2015.
During the year, the HSE function further consolidated the scope of its activities at various levels within the
Group - corporate, country or region, business unit or production unit - centralising activities and coordinating
the work of the local HSE functions. Application of the Health, Safety and Environment policy, the Operating
Procedures and the Group's Technical Standards was maintained and extended to additional operating
units. The effectiveness and proper application at local level of the health, safety and environment rules were
also checked periodically, with support from a Group-level audit team.
Once again, significant variables and indicators were monitored regularly to check the effectiveness of
health, safety and environment activities, including compliance with health and safety at work standards,
energy consumption, waste management, water usage and greenhouse gas emissions. In particular, with
reference to the last mentioned, the Group has strengthened the process of collecting energy consumption
data in order to track both "direct" emissions (deriving from production processes) and "indirect" emissions
(deriving from the energy purchased). This system of monitoring and reporting enabled the Group to
participate in 2015, once again, to the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), which seeks to contribute to the
pursuit of the objectives agreed in the Kyoto Protocol regarding the global reduction of greenhouse gas
emissions.
Further developments in this area will be made possible by considering the outcome of the energy audits
carried out during 2015 at a number of European factories, deemed representative, in order to identify
actions to improve energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Methodologies are also being
defined with a view to assessing the environmental impact of products and especially their carbon footprints,
at the design stage.
About 160 inspections were carried out at the various factories during the year, including certification audits
and certification maintenance audits, about 25% of which were carried out by experienced Prysmian
personnel, while the rest was performed by auditors from external certification agencies. On top of this, 17
energy audits were conducted and internal auditors also visited various locations to check on specific
matters. Territorial external agencies carried out periodic inspections too.