One of Hera’s priorities is dialogue and engagement of persons residing in the vicinity of plants, Especially in the areas where construction or expansion is underway of new lines of waste treatment plants or electrical energy production plants.

This project is part of the wider sustainable development strategy followed by Hera, and the Group's plan is to extend the experience of the RAB in Ferrara launched in 2005 to the other areas where waste disposal or cogeneration plants are being built or upgraded. The programme was continued in 2007 with the launch of the RAB in Imola, and in 2008 with the RAB in Raibano (Rimini).

What is a RAB?

RABs (Residential Advisory Boards) are a way companies and the public at large can get together and exchange information and monitor environmental indicators.

RABs facilitate communication, information exchanges and interaction between companies and local communities in the urbanized areas in the vicinity of corporate plants. This mechanism was tested for the first time in 1998 in Holland on the outskirts of Rotterdam, hosting a petrochemical complex managed by Shell.

The aim is to create communication and interaction modes between parties in operations involving large companies or aggregations of companies within contexts in which potential or likely adverse effects or risks are associated with corporate activities, directly impacting the urban environment.

Page updated 4 August 2010