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Prysmian Group – 2015 Sustainability Report
Sustainable Innovation
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Continuation of studies of the protection of copper in order to improve or avoid the oxidisation of copper
wires for major section conductors. Completion of a study for the protection of aluminium that could
enable the Group to use it for applications that have been excluded until now due to corrosion problems.
Continuation of studies of carbon nano-tubes to identify possible uses for them as conductors, as well as
contacts with a manufacturer of graphene in order to obtain a quantity of this new material for
experimental purposes.
THOUGHTS ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENT
The R&D activities of the Prysmian Group dedicate great attention to the social and environmental aspects,
seeking to use materials that do not represent a hazard for human health or the environment. Efforts include
performing up-front analyses of the data for materials, in order to check their possible impact on the
environment and on the society. During the year, the Group therefore developed initiatives and projects
designed to reduce the environmental impact of the range of products offered.
In order to increase the efficiency and reliability of finished products while, at the same time, lowering the
dissipation of energy and power, Prysmian has worked to reduce the set-up times of the machines used and
increase the speed with which products are manufactured. As a result of introducing these innovations, the
Group has achieved greater manufacturing efficiency, increase the volume produced per unit of time and,
consequently, reducing the energy consumed per unit of production.
Examples of this initiative within the Telecom business include the efficiencies achieved in the manufacture
of data transmission cables and optical cables with loose tube and Flextube micro-module design. In a
specific improvement programme, the speeds of the buffering lines and the insulation lines were compared
at various factories, using a best practices approach. This resulted in efficiency improvements, as well as a
reduction in the energy consumed by these manufacturing processes.
Improvements achieved in relation to the Category copper cables included reductions in conductor diameter
and ribbon width, as well as the thickness of the insulator. The use of recycled materials has been further
optimised at a number of factories.
With regard to optical cables, where filler is normally used to block the longitudinal penetration of water, the
Prysmian Group's 'dry/dry' platform has been further developed.
The family of dry/dry cables with Flextube micro-modules has been expanded. This technology is used
advantageously to reduce installation times even further and thus lower the total cost of installation.
Elimination of the filler facilitates recycling and the separation of components.
Another important step has been taken in reducing the energy consumed to manufacture optical fibres. The
system employed to mesh the plastic sheathing of the glass is phasing out the use of UV lamps in favour of
LED lamps.
The qualification trials have been completed and the changeover to LED will be completed during 2016: this
could reduce the energy consumed to manufacture a bobbin of fibre by more than 20%.
Additionally, all HV projects have focused on increasing the transmission capacity of links and therefore
improving efficiency, while the monitoring systems developed by the Group seek to facilitate the
management of assets, by optimising losses and downtime.