Since 2017, we have been developing a measuring system, conceived by Hera Luce, which analyses the materials used in public lighting. What's the target? Making their life cycle circular, as well.
Waste can spring back to a new life almost indefinitely. This principle is the foundation of the circular economy. It is based on the five Rs – reduce, reuse, recycle, recover, regenerate – and aims to minimize waste and the use of resources. And this is also the foundation of our front line fight to manage municipal waste, which today, more than ever before, has become a precious resource, thanks to a circular approach.
Our efforts have gone well beyond waste management. Since 2017, we have been trying to apply the same circularity to public lighting systems. But to innovate, you have to measure.
That's why Hera Luce developed a measurement system to analyse materials used in public lighting throughout their entire life cycle – from origin to final destination – both in terms of material flows and in economic terms (costs/revenues).
In 2017, this approach to measuring circularity had already been brought into line with the guidelines of the Italian Ministry of the Environment and it is now consistent with Circulytics, the new digital tool which accurately measures circularity, developed by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation in 2019, and which we were involved in as testers.
Our evaluation system also anticipated the requirements of the Italian Ministry of the Environment on the minimum environmental criteria (MEC) for public lighting services. In fact, since 2016, our calls for tenders require MEC compliance and, since 2018, also require the material balance.
Our strong focus on circularity and environmental sustainability, the awareness raising process launched with our suppliers, and being forerunners of such a measuring tool have been rewarding choices. Hera Luce has thus been awarded the contracts for the municipalities of Ferrara, Lugo, Tavullia, and Cervia, and has qualified as a partner to the Municipal Administrations as able to promote the issues of sustainable, intelligent and solidarity-based development, favouring the achievement of the objectives of the UN's 2030 Agenda.
In the coming years, we will extend the use of the Hera Luce circularity evaluation tool to water connection sites.
Hera Luce's efforts to improve the efficiency of public lighting contribute to achieving target 7.3 of the UN's 2030 Agenda.
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