Case study

The development of photovoltaics in landfills

In July 2023, the new photovoltaic system in Galliera (Bo) was commissioned, built on a closed landfill and made up of 2.5 thousand panels for a total installed power of 1 MW. The expected electricity production is 1.4 GWh per year and will be totally fed into the grid, leading to an expected benefit of 600 tonnes of greenhouse gases avoided each year.

In addition, in the early months of 2024, Hera obtained authorisation for the construction and operation of another photovoltaic system on a closed and restored landfill in Castel Maggiore, which is also in the Bologna area. The new system will contain almost 6.5 thousand panels for a total power of approximately 4.2 MW, which is set to produce around 6.6 GWh of electricity per year, which is equivalent to around 3,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases avoided each year. The plant will be divided into two sections with a power of 3.2 MW and 1.0 MW (the latter may be dedicated to a renewable energy community).

Finally, the authorisation process is also underway for the construction of an additional 7.5 MW photovoltaic system at the Ravenna landfill.

The construction of photovoltaic systems on exhausted landfills is promoted by the Emilia-Romagna region and by national legislation through incentives and simplifications since these projects also offer an opportunity to avoid consuming soil, given that they are developed on areas that are difficult to use for other purposes, for example for cultivation. 

These initiatives are another example of how much the Hera Group strives to be a key driver on the path towards the energy transition and the electrification of consumption, with innovative tools for energy efficiency and self-production.

The development of photovoltaics in landfills contributes to the achievement of targets 7.2, 9.1, 9.2, 9.4 and 13.2 of the UN 2030 Agenda.

The development of energy parks and agrivoltaics

The Energy park project is an innovative model of sustainable development, which combines energy transition and attention to the environment in the same area, forming an integrated, green infrastructure for the generation of renewable energy and the protection of biodiversity.

The project has four pillars:

• The production of renewable energy in synergy with agriculture using agrivoltaic systems;
• Safeguarding the ecosystem by protecting and expanding biodiversity;
• The conversion to sustainable agriculture by promoting best agricultural practices;
• The creation of an area for the community through the creation of an urban forest.

Energy park initiatives have been launched in Bologna and Faenza during 2023.

A site for construction was identified in Bologna near via Stalingrado, which Hera has acquired. The project will use an area of 70 hectares and will see the installation of 20 thousand bifacial photovoltaic panels with a total power of approximately 14 MW which will allow the generation of over 20 GWh per year (consumption of 7,400 “typical” families), reducing Bologna’s carbon footprint by approximately 9,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases and increasing the city’s energy self-sufficiency.

In Faenza, the land owned by Società Agricola le Cicogne Srl, established by the Fondazione Banca del Monte e Cassa di Risparmio Faenza and by Crédit Agricole Italia, has been acquired. The dimensions are similar to the Energy Park in Bologna. 

The authorisation procedures prior to the operational and construction phase of the Energy parks are set to be launched in 2024.

In 2023, thanks to a partnership with Orogel, a Cesena cooperative leader in Italy in the production of fresh frozen vegetables, the Horowatt company has been established to produce renewable energy and promote the energy transition.

Horowatt’s first area of intervention concerns the construction of a 5.1 MW agrivoltaic system which will be built on approximately 13 hectares of land near the Orogel plant in Cesena and will be able to produce approximately 8 GWh each year, equal to 25% of the overall energy needs of the industrial plant. The photovoltaic panels will be mounted on metal structures at a minimum height of 2.1 metres above the ground to allow agricultural activities to be carried out below. In addition, thanks to an integrated automation system with sensors on the land, the panels can be oriented not only to adapt to the position of the sun and guarantee maximum energy efficiency, but also to respond to specific agricultural needs, for the benefit of the crops underneath (“Agriculture 4.0”).

The plant will pave the way for additional future initiatives aimed at developing a new agriculture model, which combines food production with energy production without soil consumption in a sustainable manner.

Authorisation to carry out the works and to then start constructing the plant should be obtained in 2024. 

Thanks to these initiatives, Hera will be able to initiate concrete actions in the field of renewables and sustainability, pooling its best skills and experience to support residents, businesses and public administrations towards the energy and environmental transition.

The development of Energy parks and photovoltaics contributes to the achievement of targets 7.2, 9.1, 9.2, 9.4 and 13.2 of the UN 2030 Agenda.
 

The development of the hydrogen supply chain: hydrogen valleys

Hera Group is implementing “Hydrogen valley” projects in Modena and Trieste where green hydrogen will be produced from renewable sources to support decarbonisation in industrial sectors, SMEs and local transport and at the same time promote the reuse of disused industrial areas, thus contributing to the sustainable management of the area and promote the development of local economies.

In particular, the IdrogeMO project in Modena, carried out in conjunction with companies Herambiente and Snam, consists of:

• A photovoltaic system of 6.3 MW of power, divided into 5.3 MW of ground-mounted photovoltaic units, which will be built on the slopes of the disused landfill in Via Caruso, and 1 MW of floating photovoltaic units, located on the body of water located north of the project site. This system will also come with a battery energy storage system (BESS);
• A green hydrogen production system using a 2.5 MW power electrolyser which will lead to the production of approximately 400 tonnes of green hydrogen per year (approximately 13 GWh) and compression and loading systems in hydrogen tube trailers.

The overall cost of the project is 20.8 million euro, approximately 94% of which is financed by the funds of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) through financing line 3.1 (“Hydrogen production in abandoned industrial areas ( Hydrogen valleys)”) which falls under Mission M2 (“Green revolution and ecological transition”) Component C2 (“Renewable energy, hydrogen, network and sustainable mobility”). Authorisation procedures are set to begin at the beginning of 2024, with the plant being commissioned in 2026.

In Trieste, AcegasApsAmga has signed a partnership agreement with Hestambiente to also participate in the NRRP M2C2 Inv.3.1 tender.

The project, submitted to the Friuli-Venezia Giulia Region, involves the installation of a platform with an annual production capacity of 370 tonnes of renewable hydrogen (approximately 12 GWh), of which approximately 116 tonnes are produced thanks to the energy of a dedicated photovoltaic system of at least 4.5 MW of power which will be installed in a degraded area (“Ex-Esso”) within the Trieste Site of National Interest, allowing an area with otherwise unused production potential to be maximised. The photovoltaic system will be equipped with an energy storage system, suitably sized, which will allow maximum use of self-produced electrical energy during the hours of lower or no energy production.

The initiative also envisages industrial symbiosis between the hydrogen production platform and the waste-to-energy plant in Trieste which involves the reuse of the purge water from the evaporative cooling towers of the waste-to-energy plant as part of the renewable hydrogen production process.

For the Trieste project, a loan of 14 million euro has been requested from the Region to partially cover the entire investment. The construction of the plant and its commissioning are expected to be completed by 2026. Letters of intent were also signed with Trieste Trasporti S.p.A., CoSELAG (Local Economic Development Consortium of the Julian Area) and Adriafer S.r.l. to use renewable hydrogen mainly in the sectors of local public transport, rail and road transport in the port and dry port logistics of the port of Trieste, and in road transport serving the industrial area of the province of Trieste.

For the construction of the portion of the plant intended solely for the production of renewable hydrogen, AcegasApsAmga also obtained financing amounting to 1.5 million euro from the European tender “HORIZON - JTI - CleanH2 - 2022-06-01: Hydrogen valleys”. AcegasApsAmga is a partner of the North Adriatic Hydrogen Valley (NAHV) consortium, financed by the aforementioned European tender, which aims to create an economic, social and industrial ecosystem based on the hydrogen supply chain. This ecosystem, thanks to the collaboration between companies, research institutes and public bodies from Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Slovenia and Croatia, aims to become the first cross-border hydrogen valley. In this context, AcegasApsAmga proposes, in addition to the initiative described above, an asset readiness study to evaluate the possibility of introducing a mixture of renewable natural gas and hydrogen with gradually increasing percentages of hydrogen into the current natural gas distribution network.

For both Modena and Trieste projects, participation in the NRRP tender in 2023 has been successful with the entire available funding being awarded; the design of the hydrogen and photovoltaic systems, necessary to start the authorisation process, could therefore begin.

In 2024, the authorisation process should come to an end and the activities relating to the main works and supplies will start being awarded.

The development of the hydrogen chain contributes to the achievement of targets 7.2, 9.1, 9.2, 9.4 and 13.2 of the UN 2030 Agenda.
 

The development of smart grids

Hera and Gridspertise, Enel Group company dedicated to the digital transformation of electricity grids, have signed a collaboration agreement aimed at developing future smart grids. 

This agreement concerns the trial of an integrated system for collecting and measuring data from Hera Group’s gas devices and Gridspertise’s smart meters in electricity grids. The multi-service gas-electricity integration tests will be carried out in Italy on the network managed by Inrete Distribuzione Energia, the Hera Group’s distribution company.

Thanks to this activity, the two companies will combine their expertise and achieve technical synergies in the area of network digitisation. In particular, Hera will be able to count on its experience in the field of gas smart meters, where it patented the advanced NexMeter, the first of its kind internationally in terms of technology and safety functions adopted and of reducing ghg dispersion into the atmosphere as well. Gridspertise will provide its most innovative solutions for an integrated management of metering data to help develop new smart and sustainable grids, to accelerate the digital transformation of electricity infrastructures. In recent months, Gridspertise has signed agreements with the Hera Group for the supply of 435 thousand smart meters and concentrators, as well as an innovative remote management system that will be used in the trial; at the same time, Hera has made plans to install 310 thousand gas NexMeters by 2027, 250 thousand of which are already operational, and 449 thousand 2G electric meters, 149 thousand of which have already been installed.

The result is a package of network management solutions whose key element consists in facilitating the energy transition. Based on the results of the trial, the two companies will evaluate joint participation in future tenders, which will also be held outside Italy, in which hardware and software solutions for gas and electricity metering will be sold. This collaboration may also extend, at a later stage, to solutions concerning the integrated water cycle, in terms of both metering and smart water grids.

The results of this collaboration may also interest multi-utility companies abroad, thus extending the outstanding technology conceived and developed in our country to international markets.

In Trieste, AcegasApsAmga is performing interventions on the electricity distribution network to encourage the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by enabling an increase in the electrification of final consumption and increasing the “Hosting capacity” of the grids, i.e. the system’s ability to accommodate more energy electricity generated from renewable sources.

The proposed actions aim to guarantee a solid development basis for initiatives aimed at ports (cold ironing, advanced logistics platforms, integration of renewable energy sources) and the related integration into the urban fabric with its own requirements, all in conjunction with developments set out in Terna’s strategic plan for the reinforcement of the high voltage electricity grid in the Trieste area.

The characterisation of the smart grid has its origins in the adoption of innovative software solutions, guaranteeing the full effectiveness of the construction, adaptation and enhancement activities of the planned physical grid assets.

In 2023, the focus was on the design and procurement of the main plants and infrastructures, while in 2024 the work to lay the new medium voltage lines and upgrade the “Cacciatore” primary substation will begin.

In addition, 1,130 robotized secondary substations will be in operation by 2023 to support the electrification of consumption and the widespread generation of renewable energy. The target for 2027 is to robotize 1,260 secondary cabins.

The development of smart grids contributes to the achievement of targets 7.3, 9.1, 9.2, 9.4, 11.3 and 17.17 of the UN 2030 Agenda.

European package on the circular economy: Hera anticipates the stages

Hera confirms the goals in terms of packaging recycling and landfill reduction, showing that it is ahead of both European targets related to urban waste.

In the territory served by the Group, in fact, all three main European objectives have been achieved: that relating to landfill (2.7% in 2023 compared to a target of a maximum of 10% in 2035) that for packaging (66% in 2022 compared to a target of 65% in 2025 and 70% in 2030) and the overall recycling rate (61% in 2022 compared to a target of 55% in 2025, 60% in 2030 and 65% in 2035). Data on these last two targets will be updated to 2022 in the coming months and as usual published in the report "On the traces of waste".

The report "On the traces of waste", of which the fourteenth edition was published in 2023, certifies in a transparent and complete way that the percentage of separate collection actually recovered by the company has reached 89%, divided into 78% recycling of matter and 11% energy recovery, the latter provided only in the plastic and green supply chains. The project covered the main materials collected in a differentiated way: green, paper, organic, glass, plastic, wood, iron and metals (aluminium, steel and tinplate packaging).

The report, which covers the entire perimeter served by the Group, reveals a recovery of 95% for green and 71% for plastic and a recycling of matter of 89% for paper, 87% for organic, 93% for glass, 99% for wood, 99% for iron and 93% for metal.

Meeting and exceeding the European municipal waste targets contributes to achieving UN 2030 Agenda goals 12.2, 12.4, 12.5.

Publishing the report “Tracking Waste” contributes to achieving UN 2030 Agenda goal 12.8.

The Hera Group’s commitment to the new plastics economy

Hera is one of the 250 companies worldwide, and the only Italian multiutility company, that in 2018 signed the New Plastics Economy Global Commitment, launched by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation in collaboration with the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). The Foundation’s initiative is ultimately aimed at tackling the problem of plastic pollution at its source and making the entire supply chain more circular: eliminating disposable products as much as possible, producing and using only recyclable, reusable or compostable packaging and promoting the use of recycled plastic. To this end, the Foundation has created a global movement, involving all players in the supply chain, such as plastic packaging manufacturers and companies that use them to pack their products, large-scale retailers and recycling companies, as well as governments and investors.

In March 2022, in light of the important commitments undertaken by the members of the Foundation, as well as the importance of the topic in the context of the introduction of a new business model based on the circular economy, the United Nations, and in particular UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme), started a process aimed at drafting an international treaty binding member states in order to reduce the use of plastic and contribute to the creation of an economic system based on circular production. Three plenary sessions have been held so far; in the last session, a draft of the final treaty was drawn up, which is set to be promulgated in 2025. Two further sessions have already been scheduled and will be held in 2024.

The Hera Group has committed to increase by 2025 (compared to 2017):

• plastics collected in the municipalities served by 30%; 
• plastics sorted and sent to be recycled by the Group’s plants by 50%;
• plastic recycled by Aliplast by 70%. 

To date, the Global Commitment has gathered more than 500 signatories around the world, including companies active in the different phases of the plastic packaging value chain (around 20% of the global packaging market), governments (over 1 billion people represented) and over 200 associations and institutions including National Geographic, WWF, the World Economic Forum, the Consumer Goods Forum, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), universities and research bodies and financial institutions.

On 31 October 2023, the fifth Progress Report was published, containing data from 123 companies (out of 134 that set their own target when joining the Network) and 17 governments/administrations (out of 24 eligible for reporting). The momentum created around the circular economy of plastics was unprecedented and the early progress made by signatories is significant. Despite this, efforts to eliminate the problem of plastic waste pollution at source must progress to a more ambitious level. The data reported on this occasion by the Hera Group referred to 2022.

The Hera Group’s data at the end of 2023 indicate that the path undertaken is the right one. With regard to the plastics collected in the municipalities served, the Group has reached the target set for 2025 three years in advance, partially thanks to the contribution made by residents who, in recent years, have been engaged and incentivised to improve collection in a rationale oriented towards recycling. With respect to the plastics sorted and sent for recycling in the Group’s plants, there has also been progressive and positive progress compared to the target. However, as of 2023, the performance linked to this indicator will undergo a significant reduction due to the effect of Emilia-Romagna regional law no. 16 of 18 July 2017, which establishes that an amount coming to no less than 30% of municipal waste collected and sorted by type must be managed by an economic operator selected through a competitive procedure in which companies controlled by or connected to the concessionaire (in this case, the Group) cannot participate. In this regulatory context, the Group may only be responsible for managing 70% of the municipal waste collected and sorted by type by the Group itself, which will jeopardise achieving the target within 2025. With regard to recycled plastic, an increase in sales was recorded in 2023, with further growth forecast in the 2022-2027 industrial plan.

The same targets were presented by Hera in the context of the “EU-wide pledging campaign for the uptake of recycled plastics”, the campaign promoted by the European Commission to accelerate the uptake of recycled plastics and reach the European target of ten million tonnes of recycled plastics used for new products by 2025.

Achieving the targets on the plastics supply chain contributes to achieving UN 2030 Agenda goals 12.2, 12.4, 12.5.

Aliplast for Hera Group: recycled plastic products

In November 2019, an experimental circular economy project was launched by Hera and Aliplast, to increasing the reuse of reels made from post-consumer recycled plastic in the production of bags intended for sorted waste collection.

The ultimate goal was to “close the circle” of the lifecycle of these products, increasing their recycling and reuse, so as to increase economic sustainability and reduce their environmental impact as much as possible. 

In October 2020, the experimental phase of the project ended and from November 2020 the actual industrialisation of the process began in all the regions managed by the Group with important results: between 2020 and 2023, 6,418 tonnes of reels were produced for bag production. 

In addition to the figures, the “HERA Plastic Bags” project has achieved other results with a positive impact on the system itself:

• the quality of the bags is significantly improved as Aliplast itself guarantees technical requirements are met, except in the case of manipulation by the third-party supplier;
• the issue of disputes with third-party suppliers who did not respect product specifications was removed; 
• the issue of traceable bags has been resolved; 
• the service offered to Hera users has improved, with considerable return in terms of image.

The use of recycled plastic bags for waste collection contributes to UN 2030 Agenda goals 9.4, 11.6, 12.2, 12.4 and 12.5.

Innovative Carbon Fibre Recycling Plant

An agreement has been reached for the construction of the first plant in Italy, and among the first in Europe, to use an innovative pyrogasification process to produce recovered carbon fibre. It will be carried out by Herambiente and the project is the result of a collaboration with the Department of Industrial Chemistry of the University of Bologna and Curti Costruzioni Meccaniche.

Currently, carbon fibre waste is almost exclusively destined for landfills or energy recovery. The challenge involved in the project for the plant make it pioneering, because it aims to recover carbon through an innovative pyrogasification process while maintaining the lightness and strength of this fibre, a material that can potentially be recycled countless times.

The advantages of this new technological solution are clear, with a 75% saving on the environmental impact associated with the life cycle (LCA – Life Cycle Assessment) compared to traditional methods of carbon fibre treatment and disposal. In addition, it will result in approximately 160 tonnes of recycled carbon fibre with a 90% energy saving compared to virgin fibre production and a reduction in CO2 emissions into the atmosphere coming to approximately 7,000 tonnes per year

The plant will be built in Imola (BO) and will operate through a complex process guaranteeing a completely clean and reusable outgoing product, ready to be rewoven and impregnated for reuse in the sectors from which the waste comes: automotive, aerospace, nautical and wind energy, to name but a few, but more generally from a market that now shows a 9% annual increase in demand for carbon fibre, which today is almost entirely a virgin raw material.

Construction began in 2023 and will be fully operational in mid-2024. It will have a maximum overall treatment potential (on two lines) of 320 tonnes per year and will operate for approximately 7,000 hours per year; it is also designed to recover syngas from resins and additives: this gas will be reused to generate part of the thermal energy needed for the process in order to maximise energy recovery as well. 

The carbon fibre recycling plant contributes achieving UN 2030 Agenda goals 9.1, 9.2, 9.4, 11.6, 12.2, 12.4 and 12.5, as well as - thanks to the partnership developed - to achieving goal 17.17.

Hera and Eni: partnership to turn cooking oil into biofuel

As part of the transition to a circular economy promoted by the Group, the collection of waste oils has become increasingly visible and important, also leading to significant economic returns. A street collection service for cooking oils started in 2018, using attractive bins specifically designed to collect residual household cooking oil.

The results of this collection feed into a virtuous circular economy project. In fact, under a framework agreement stipulated with Eni, all discarded cooking oil collected by Hera, once processed in affiliated plants, is transported to the Eni bio-refinery in Porto Marghera (VE) where it is transformed into hydrogenated biofuel. Hera then uses this biofuel, by purchasing approximately 600,000 litres/year of ENI Diesel+ (containing 15% bio component) which is used to power 33 compactors for waste collection in the areas served. Starting from 2024, based on the new agreement, Hera will purchase the new HVOlution biofuel made up of 100% bio components to replace Diesel+.

The total number of bins for street collection of discarded vegetable oils in the area served by Hera Spa amounted to 868, distributed over 128 municipalities for a served population of roughly 2.4 million inhabitants. In 2023, used vegetable oils collected by the collection service reached 1,128 tonnes, a slight decrease compared to previous years. This data refers to the amount collected in the areas served by Hera Spa, Marche Multiservizi and AcegasApsAmga. 

In addition to the volume from municipal collections, in 2023 Hera increased its collection of vegetable oils from commercial users in the area, which started in 2021. Over the years, in addition to restaurants and companies operating in the food sector, the project also contracted important groups in the catering sector such as Camst, Cirfood, Elior, Road House and Chef Express. More than 1,380 catering outlets were involved in the project. The extension of the project made it possible, in 2023, to start producing hydrogenated biofuel at the ENI Bio-Refinery in Porto Marghera (VE) from an additional 1,236 tonnes of vegetable oils.

In total, the oil collected during 2023 amounted to 2,364 tonnes. This generated significant positive environmental impacts, as shown in the table below.

In 2023, Hera was re-certified by Bureau Veritas Italia for AFNOR XP X30-901 for its circular economy projects, already obtained in 2022. The French AFNOR standard is now the main international reference for implementing a management system for circular economy projects. More specifically, the waste cooking oil management project was selected and verified in accordance with the requirements of this standard, which includes, among others, a risk/opportunity analysis. This allowed the foundations of the project to be strengthened by assessments of possible criticalities, such as the risk of spillage and the maintenance of road containers, but also of the important benefits of the initiative, which push for its extension and promotion in the area, as well as on the possible future actions to be introduced in order to reduce risks and broaden opportunities. 

AFNOR certification thus confirms that the reorganisation of the exhausted cooking oil recovery process in the areas served by the Hera Group has taken place in full respect of the circular economy, yielding important environmental and economic benefits.

The partnership between Hera and Eni contributes to achieving UN 2030 Agenda goals 9.4, 11.6, 12.2, 12.4 and 12.5, as well as - thanks to the partnership developed - to achieving target 17.17.

Important new partnerships signed to “close the circle”

In 2023, another two new strategic circular economy partnership agreements were signed with important national entities which, in addition to those signed in past years, make up a total framework of 10 active partnerships aimed at implementing environmental sustainability initiatives and projects. 

The first of these two new partnership agreements was signed in January 2023 with Sacmi Imola, the company at the head of the Sacmi Group, world leader in the production and marketing of complete machines and systems for the ceramic, metal, packaging, food and beverage industry and for the production of plastic containers and advanced materials. In 2023, the first projects to exploit materials from a circular economy perspective were launched, including the recovery of used vegetable oil produced by the company canteen intended for the production of hydrogenated biofuel in partnership with Eni, in addition to the collection of glasses from vending machines for the specific recycling of polystyrene in partnership with Corepla through the RiVending project. Analyses aimed at optimising water resources and increasing energy efficiency have also been launched. 

The partnership with Autogrill also began in June 2023, a national leader in catering for people on the road, with a dense and widespread network of points of sale located on motorways, stations, airports and also in urban centres throughout Italy. The objective of the agreement is the sharing and implementation of projects in the field of sustainable mobility, circular economy, sustainability and environmental communication, through innovative Business to Community to Consumer - B2C2C approaches, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) defined by the UN 2030 Agenda. The first area of intervention launched involves the identification of solutions to improve the efficiency of waste management, from the collection phase to the treatment phase.

During 2023, as part of the partnership with the Italian Exhibition Group signed in March 2022, the Hera Group’s support continued in activities pivotal to maintaining the ISO 20121 Integrated System certification, relating to the implementation of sustainable event management systems. The certification had already been obtained in 2022 for the Rimini and Vicenza exhibition centres as well as for the organisation of the Ecomondo trade fair event. In addition, the Group provided its support to another IEG site, Palacongressi di Rimini, which also obtained ISO 20121 certification in December 2023.

The partnership with Aeroporti di Roma continues, also signed in April 2022. The Hera Group provides technical support to this company both in the waste sector, to guarantee traceability and increasingly sustainable management of all waste flows produced in the Fiumicino airport hubs and Ciampino, and in the field of the optimisation of water resources, to maximise reuse and make sure they are used efficiently. 

In addition, the partnerships with the catering companies Camst Group, Elior and Cirfood continue, by virtue of which the results of the project for the exploitation of used vegetable oils have been boosted and consolidated: from the cumulative collections of the three partners, over 144 thousand litres of biofuel have been produced with a saving of 410 tons of CO2e. In addition, new areas for the exploitation of waste materials are being studied, including in an experimental form, with the aim of increasing the results already achieved in terms of environmental sustainability and circularity, starting with plastic packaging. 

In 2023, the collaboration with Aeroporto di Bologna also continued with significant results. Thanks to the ongoing partnership between the Airport and Hera, the results already achieved in 2022 for the separation of waste produced at the airport have improved even more, consolidating the results to over 50% for separate collection, with an increase of more than double compared to the data from 2021, the period prior to the signing of the specific partnership. In the environmental information and awareness process aimed at everyone who produces waste at the airport, the last mile was created in 2023, actively involving passengers too, through little tabs placed near the catering points and in other sensitive points of the airport, in order to remind people to correctly separate waste when placing it in the appropriate containers.

Aimed at developing new paths featuring higher circularity, an ambitious experimental project for regenerating household appliance waste was launched together with Dismeco, which is active in the WEEE recovery sector, with a plant located in Marzabotto, in the province of Bologna. The project aims to test the feasibility of a new way of managing this waste, which allows the washing machines brought as waste to the Group’s ecological stations to be regenerated; in practice, the best preserved washing machines are intercepted in this WEEE flow, in order to experiment with a repair process so they can be used again. The project, developed in agreement with the WEEE Coordination Centre (a consortium that brings together the Collective Systems of electrical and electronic equipment manufacturers) and Dismeco, saw the collaboration of CNA Bologna with the innovative Academy launched at Cna Formazione in Marzabotto, a professional training course for those working in household appliance maintenance. At the same time, the project will therefore be a great opportunity for professional training and preparation and an opportunity to create potential new jobs to support and develop local communities in the Bologna area. In 2023, 109 washing machines were regenerated and donated to organisations and associations in the Bologna Metropolitan City area committed to supporting vulnerable segments of the population.

The project launched in 2019 between Herambiente and Coprob (Beetroot Producers Cooperatives), the only sugar producer in Italy based in Minerbio (BO), continues thanks to the supply of compost from the six Herambiente plants in Emilia-Romagna with quality certification. The compost, obtained exclusively from the separate collection of the organic portion combined with cuttings and pruning, is used in the fertilisation plans for the associated farms, to restore the organic content of soil, which is essential for maximum fertility. The flows managed in 2023 equalled 5,210 tonnes. Unfortunately, the figure decreased compared to 2022 due to the flood in May 2023 which made it impossible to harvest the crops and subsequently work the COPROB members’ land, affected by the events, in time to use the compost. 

The agreement between different production sectors with concrete experience in the circular economy offers a comprehensive response to environmental and production issues both in Herambiente plants, with biogas and biomethane production, and in the agricultural sector, confirming the production levels of crops, the quality of agricultural production and a significant improvement in the soil both from a biological and chemical-physical point of view. 

In 2023, the Hera Group also continued to partner with Federdistribuzione, the federation representing Modern Distribution companies. Two partnership agreements are in the process of being drawn up, one relating to the circular economy and a second aimed at promoting energy efficiency actions among its own associated.

The partnership with McDonald’s also continued, which, at the end of 2023, saw the creation of a new monitoring system for the separate collection of urban waste in the restaurants included in the scope of the project. The partnership agreement, which expires at the end of the year, has also been renewed for 2024, with plans to expand the partnership to areas relating to waste prevention, the identification of optimal solutions for the  and traceability of waste from a circular economy perspective, as well as environmental awareness and communication initiatives aimed at McDonald’s internal staff and customers, with the aim of promoting environmental sustainability and correct waste management.

The projects described here contribute to achieving UN 2030 Agenda goals 12.2, 12.4, 12.5, as well as - thanks to the partnerships developed - to achieving goal 17.17.

Production and use of compost from Herambiente plants

Herambiente’s compost is an organic biofertiliser obtained by treating separately collected organic waste at six of its own facilities:

• 1 traditional aerobic composting plant with static heaps at Ostellato (FE), in which only mixed composted soil improver is produced;
• 4 anaerobic digestion plants with final composting of mixed composted soil improver (S. Agata Bolognese (BO), Voltana (RA), Rimini and Cesena plants);
• 1 traditional aerobic composting plant with static heaps at Ostellato (Fe), in which green composted soil improver is produced.

To summarise, the process used in all Herambiente plants involves processing and recovering the organic portion of sorted waste from which soil improver and biogas are produced; in the particular case of S. Agata alone, biomethane is produced, which is fed directly into the Snam network for use in motor vehicles.

In 2022, these plants produced approximately 41.4 thousand tonnes of mixed composted soil improver (63.7% destined for extensive agriculture and fruit growing at local farms, 35.7% for the pellet and soil industry and the remaining 0.5% for small local gardeners) and approximately 5.5 thousand tonnes of green composted soil improver (95% destined for the soil industry and the remainder for small local gardeners).

For years, Herambiente has carried out significant on-field trial activities aimed at researching and evaluating the performance of its biofertilisers. The study carried out with the University of Bologna and the Navarra Foundation, located in Ferrara, compares the organic fertilisers produced by the Group, not only in terms of quantitative and qualitative production performance in extensive and specialised crops (fruit and floriculture), but also the impact that organic fertilisers have on the soil’s microbiological composition and the soil/plant ratio. The results confirm production equal to or higher than the one obtained with chemical fertilisation, but with a significant increase in the organic substances present, leading to a qualitative improvement in production as well as significant resilience of the soil to climatic stress (drought) and other physiopathologies.

Producing compost through aerobic digestion, anaerobic digestion and composting processes in Herambiente’s facilities contributes to achieving UN 2030 Agenda goals 12.2, 12.4, 12.5.

Evaluation and measurement of “circularity” in Hera Luce, Ase, Hse and in new water and gas connections

2017, Hera Luce developed a system for measuring the circularity of public lighting systems, considering their lifecycle based on an analysis of material flows (materials used in relation to their origin and end-of-life destination) and economic flows (costs/revenues at the beginning and end of the lifecycle).

This approach to measuring circularity was already aligned with the indications provided by the Ministry of the Environment (MATTM) at the time, and was later confirmed to be consistent with the most recent international methodological approaches, such as the Circulytics tool developed by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. Hera Luce’s circularity measurement system also anticipated the requirements of the Minimum environmental criteria (MEC) for the public lighting service, approved in March 2018, which introduce an obligation for the bidder to carry out a material analysis.

The measurement system designed acts as a fundamental strategic lever and, along with the awareness-raising process with suppliers, allows the Group to obtain higher scores in tenders and thus gain an advantage over its competitors.

Hera Luce, in order to proceed with measuring its material circularity, has prepared a measurement tool intended both for the actual calculation of material balances and for gathering the input data, providing access to the manufacturers/suppliers of the components used so that they can enter the material data of their products.

This activity made it possible to create a database containing the material data of all products used in the redevelopment projects, and to start raising awareness among suppliers with the aim of directing them towards more sustainable supply chains. The material balance measurement and reporting system was developed in accordance with the requirements set out in a specification for the creation of management systems for the implementation of material balances and was certified by a third party in 2022. 

Hera Luce is the first public lighting service company to have obtained this certification at a national level. 

The project was also extended to the companies HSE and ASE, which provide energy efficiency services for public administrations and private entities, in line with the Group’s objectives with a view to sustainability and achieving the targets of the UN 2030 Agenda. 

In 2020-2021, a circularity assessment model was applied to some simpler and more repetitive assets, in order to optimise them in terms of sustainability by redefining Standards and Procedures. This process consisted of the following steps:

• Project circularity evaluation system: implementation of calculation tools for evaluating the material circularity of networks and plants throughout their lifecycle, as previously foreseen for public lighting with the introduction of Minimum Environmental Criteria (MEC); 
• Process optimisation: application of the previously codified analysis system to certain types of assets, with the objective of optimising processes in terms of choice of materials, construction technologies and maintenance methods, aimed at minimising the impact on material consumption and maximising the use of secondary raw materials;
• Creation of new standards and procedures: the results of the analyses developed will be transformed into new standards and procedures for the design, construction, operation and maintenance of the evaluated infrastructures.

During 2020, the material and economic circularity calculation tool was implemented, which was subsequently applied to the water connection typology (2020) and the polyethylene gas network typology in 2021.

In 2022, the analysis aimed at maximising circularity and minimising waste production was applied to the plant revamping typology with demolition of the existing one. 

The assessment and measurement of “circularity” in Hera Luce, Ase, Hse and in new water and gas connections contributes to achieving UN 2030 Agenda goals 12.2, 12.4 and 12.5.

SCART®: the beautiful and useful side of waste

SCART® is the Hera Group’s art and communication project that has been developing a combination of art and waste for twenty-five years. It is a corporate waste art project, created within one of Herambiente’s industrial waste treatment and disposal plants. Today, SCART® is a trademark registered throughout the European Community, designed to breathe new life into some of those many industrial waste products that are disposed of as waste on a daily basis and, thanks to the creativity of the artists collaborating in the project, are transformed into unique, exclusive pieces of art in full respect of the circular economy. The aim is to encourage environmentally responsible behaviour, offering new stimuli to create artistic, design, fashion and performance objects using only and exclusively waste as a raw material. This has led to the creation of furniture, games, musical instruments, clothes, paintings, statues, as well as sets for shows and stage costumes. SCART® is an invitation to think about new intelligent, creative and above all sustainable lifestyles.

The numerous national and international initiatives include, for example, important conventions with the Fine Arts Academies in Florence, Bologna and Ravenna, Brera Milan, the Free Academy of Fine Arts of Rimini, and the Academy of Design of San Marino. A collaboration with the young people at the Sanpatrignano Rehabilitation Community is also important in terms of social profile. The Scart Project, during 2023, involved over 100 students in seminars and workshops held at the SCART® laboratories located within the Herambiente plant complex in Santa Croce sull’Arno e Pisa. These artistic and educational initiatives focus on experimenting with the artistic use of industrial waste and involve not only enrolled students but also many artists specialised in trash art.

Since 2012, the  SCART® project has been the exclusive partner for the production of costumes and stage components for Andrea Bocelli’s concert at the Teatro del Silenzio in Lajatico (PI), the small Tuscan town where this great tenor was born. For the 2023 edition, around 150 stage costumes were created which were worn by performers, dancers, extras and the 80 members of the choir. In addition, six statues from the “Business man and woman” collection were permanently positioned on the stage where Bocelli duetted with internationally renowned singers, in front of over 20,000 people who came to Lajatico from all over the world over two evenings in July.

Over the years SCART® has also participated in numerous national exhibitions - Venice Film Festival, Rome at Palazzo Montecitorio and at the Colosseum, Pescara, Verona, Padua, Pisa, Florence, Milan to name a few - and international exhibitions (Berlin 2016 and Hong Kong 2021, Doha in Qatar in 2022).

A big event for the SCART Project, which took place in 2023, was the appearance on the “Viva Rai2” television programme hosted by Fiorello. On 18 March, for world Recycling day, all the sets as well as all the costumes worn by the dancers were taken from the Scart collection. The host mentioned and thanked the Scart Project several times for participating in the broadcast. 

Also in 2023, several portraits of famous people were created and handed to them during events organised by the Project. Particularly memorable were those given to the singers Elisa and Emma, the actor Stefano Accorsi, the maestro Andrea Bocelli and the host Rosario Fiorello. 

Finally, a Scart exhibition has been underway since the beginning of December in Pontedera (PI) in an exclusive location where 65 Scart works have been displayed. The exhibition is being met with enormous success mainly from schools throughout the province of Pisa and beyond. To date, over 1000 children have visited the exhibition on guided and organised tours, and it has received 4000 visitors during the exhibition’s standard opening hours.

Not only does Scart continue to amaze, it’s also an effective tool to raise awareness of recycling times, sustainability and the circular economy. These are yet more emotions offered by Scart, which after many years of searching for beauty, continues to offer interesting projects.

The SCART® project contributes to UN 2030 Agenda goals 12.2, 12.4, 12.5 and 12.8.

“Il Rifiutologo”, the app for sorting waste (and more) gets smarter

"Il Rifiutologo” (The Wasteologist) is a free app with many useful features available online both on Hera’s website and on App stores for smartphones and tablets. Since its launch in 2011 to 2023, it has seen over 1.2 million downloads on Android and iOS operating systems. The municipalities where Rifiutologo was most used in 2023 were Modena (1.2 million log-ins and 73 thousand individual active users) and Bologna (almost 800 thousand total log-ins and 90 thousand users); followed by Faenza in terms of number of log-ins (618 thousand) and Ravenna in terms of number of users (32 thousand); Padua is also worth mentioning with 400 thousand log-ins and 24 thousand users.

Using the Waste Search function, users can check in real time where to take their waste and the door-to-door collections scheduled for their address, and even set a reminder alert for the day and time of each collection. The Waste Search is confirmed as the most used function, with over 3.6 million searches carried out in the last year.

Using geolocalisation, Il Rifiutologo also shows the nearest drop-off points, with complete information on the waste types accepted, opening hours and any discounts offered by the municipality. It also provides additional information on Points of Interest for residents, i.e. special sorted waste collection, mobile collection points, material distribution points and underground drop-off points.

The Environmental Reports function makes it possible for residents to report problems related to, for example, abundant waste or damaged containers, sending photos in real time to Hera technicians. The App later informs the user when the problem has been solved, including through personalised push notifications. In 2023, reports concerning the emptying of bins, street cleaning and abandoned waste reached approximately 240,000, up 23% compared to the previous year. In 2023, the option of sending reports from the Rifiutologo website was also introduced, expanding the channels available to residents and customers.

Barcode scanning, another popular feature of Il Rifiutologo,  allows materials to be recognised by means of product barcodes, indicating how to correctly dispose of each package, even if it is composed of different materials; by 2023 the archive contained over 1.8 million barcodes of the most popular products. If a code is not recognised, or if a product is missing, residents can report this via the specific function, so that it can be added to the system. In 2023, partially thanks to the reports sent by residents, 105,000 codes were added to the barcode database, while the number of requests made by scanning the barcode came to about 393,000. At present, the database covers almost the entire circulation in Italy.

Il Rifiutologo can also communicate with Alexa, the artificial intelligence created by Amazon to give voice to the smart devices we all own. Anyone who opens the Alexa app can add the Rifiutologo skill, thus ensuring the availability of a friendly voice from whom to ask for fundamental information on the collection service provided by the Hera Group in their municipality, such as: checking door-to-door calendars and setting voice memos to remind them of the collection days scheduled in the calendar, the "dove lo butto" (where should I dispose it) function, with which the skill can be asked how to dispose of waste in the areas served by Hera, and lastly information on drop-off points and how to have bulky items collected at home.

A new, very useful feature is available from 2022: the option to book a free bulky waste collection service from home directly from the app. To book a pick-up at one’s own address, simply register and with a few clicks the items to be collected can be selected. The app will directly provide the date and time for the pick-up. In municipalities where the service is active, it is also possible to request home collection of prunings via the app. In 2023, more than 31 thousand collection bookings were requested via the Il Rifiutologo app.

The information contained in Il Rifiutologo, the reports from customers and its use contribute to achieving UN 2030 Agenda goals 11.3, 11.6, 12.2, 12.4, 12.5 and 12.8, as well as – thanks to the involvement of residents – to achieving goal 17.17.

Digi and Lode, for more digital services and schools

For the Hera Group, innovation and digitalisation are fundamental, starting with its own services: development of online services, creation of interactive apps for customers and residents, and promotion of dedicated digital channels and services.

The Digi e Lode project, now in its seventh edition, sees customers and the Company working together to digitalise local schools thanks to the promotion of Hera’s digital services (such as signing up for #genHERAZIONI, the new Hera Group programme which rewards sustainable actions, electronic bill sending, online services, applications for tablets and smartphones, and the use of digital self-care areas) under the patronage of 113 local municipalities. Digi e Lode consolidates the contribution that the Group wishes to bring to the area served, in continuity with the corporate strategies that identify innovation, sustainable development of local areas and the activation of partnerships as the central drivers for increasing shared value, in line with the objectives set out in the UN 2030 Global Agenda.

Since the 2023/2024 school year, the project has also been extended to schools in the provinces of Parma, Reggio Emilia, Piacenza, Ascoli Piceno, Macerata and Fermo (now covering the whole area of Emilia-Romagna, Marche and Abruzzo) and also to the municipalities of Bassano del Grappa, Vigonza, Cittadella, Rubano and Camposampiero, where the Etra Energia company operates.

The project involves all primary and secondary schools, both public and private, in the areas located in Emilia-Romagna, Marche and Abruzzo, Veneto, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Lombardy and Apulia. For the 2023/2024 school year, a total of 197,500 euro has been made available to fund digitisation projects, benefiting students in 79 schools. Since the project began in 2017, the Group has already donated. 

In order to participate, customers must activate one or more free digital services offered by Hera Group companies: by doing so, they donate points that can be distributed equally among the schools in their municipality or can be allocated to a specific school (in this case, they are multiplied by five): the Hera Group rewards the schools in the area that achieve the highest score.

The Digi e Lode project contributes to achieving UN 2030 Agenda goals 4.a and 12.8, as well as – thanks to the involvement of residents and schools - to achieving goal 17.17.

Green community rewards sustainable solutions

#genHERAZIONI is the free and open to all customers and residents loyalty programme, which rewards the sustainable actions of everyone who shares the goal of reducing their impact on the environment. It was launched in the summer of 2023 and had around 45 thousand members at the end of the year.

By becoming part of the community, users have the opportunity to play, participate in challenges and learn how to reduce their impact through small daily actions and more conscious behaviours.

By taking sustainable actions and by taking part in initiatives, users can earn coins (ECOcoin), points (PuntiAZIONE) and medals (ECObadge): for example, “Play and learn” gets users involved with weekly winnings, quizzes and challenges to test themselves on issues related to sustainability and efficient behaviours; the “Sustainability stories" offer articles, videos and podcasts with interesting information, insights and food for thought; “Hera world" discusses rewarding actions customers can take. Lastly, there are also specific competitions dedicated to special initiatives such as, for example, some which encourage people to pay attention to their own energy consumption using the Consumption Diary.

ECOcoins can be converted into rewards, while puntiAZIONE points measure the degree of user involvement in the community and allow them to level up. By learning to live in an increasingly green way, users can become sustainability “gurus”. Competitions are also held on the platform with the chance to win more prizes.

In addition, as an extension of the experimental initiatives developed previously to promote and incentivise sustainable behaviour, in 2023 research into implementing a Green community that gives residents the opportunity to purchase renewable energy or shares of photovoltaic panels from Energy parks in the process of being developed. This means residents can take advantage of the advantages of photovoltaics systems even if they are unable to install them on their own roof, while still seeing an economic benefit on their bills with a simple and transparent solution. 

During 2024, together with the authorisation phases for the agrivoltaic plants at the Energy parks, this initiative will continue to be developed.

The green community contributes to the achievement of targets 12.8 and 17.17 of the UN 2030 Agenda. 

Circularity, resilience and sustainability also at Hera Group premises

With the gradual return to normality following the pandemic and the regular presence of staff in the Group’s offices, all routine maintenance and management activities of offices and supporting areas (changing rooms, canteens, common areas, etc.) resumed in 2022, following their normal cycle.

Nonetheless, all sanitation measures introduced during the pandemic were maintained, and some initiatives considered useful in improving the hygiene and cleanliness of the premises were either integrated into current activities or included in ordinary cyclical activities remunerated on a fee basis in the new global service contract, launched in its preliminary phase in late 2022 and fully operational as of 1 January 2023.

In this regard, note the maintenance of cyclic activities on cleaning filters in air conditioning systems, sanitising offices and an improvement in the hygiene of beverage distribution in cafeterias thanks to the use of contactless machines.

With regard to investment activities, note the following:

• the completion of the restructuring and subsequent relocation of the Heratech’s Romagna laboratories, which occupy an area of approximately 2,800 square metres at the Ravenna site;
• the completion of the changing rooms at Imola Casalegno, covering an area of approximately 500 square metres;
• the construction and commissioning of the new cafeterias in Modena and Forlì, capable of supplying 300 and 150 meals per day respectively.

For all the interventions described above, disused or underused buildings were reused, thus contributing to limiting new constructions on virgin soil and keeping the sealed surface area of the Group’s buildings unchanged.

Bearing this in mind, in 2022 the water redevelopment project for the entire Molino Rosso area in Imola was also completed, with the creation of new green areas for the headquarters and available to workers. Above all, a natural lamination basin was obtained by depressurising the ground, which guarantees the correct flow of water in the compartment without the use of additional sealed areas. This initiative, which came alongside the completion of the public car parks provided to the City of Imola in late 2022, has in fact concluded all the fulfilments envisaged by the program agreement existing with the City of Imola for the Molino Rosso compartment.

In terms of energy efficiency, the transformation of indoor lighting systems continued, with a changeover from incandescent bulbs to LED bulbs, as did the renewal of hydronic systems, replacing obsolete pumps with more modern and high-performance increased-efficiency pumps, leading to a final saving of 72 toe compared to 2021.

Work continued on the Bologna Berti Pichat training centre and on renovating the Giugnano site in Gaggio Montano (Bologna), which will be completed and operative in 2023.

535,000 euro raised by the fourth edition of HeraSolidale

HeraSolidale aims to promote solidarity and support for social and environmental projects with the involvement of Hera Group employees, customers and the company itself.

The fourth edition of the project, launched in 2020, came to an end in 2022. This latest edition saw the Group’s employees choose, through a voting process, five of the 15 organisations selected by the company according to the following criteria: reputation and transparency of activities, contribution to one or more of the goals on the UN’s 2030 Agenda, and areas of intervention related to Hera’s services (accessory criterion).

A new feature of the fourth edition of HeraSolidale is the identification of two organisations dealing with environmental sustainability, in line with the Group’s business offer and that of Hera Comm, a key partner in the success of HeraSolidale, which come alongside the five organisations voted for by workers, making a total of seven. Unlike previous editions, the fourth edition of HeraSolidale lasted three years.

By the end of the fourth edition of the project, each of the seven organisations had collected donations corresponding to at least one of the goals of the projects supported:

• ADMO Non-Profit Organisation - “A donor for everyone”. The first goal was achieved: purchasing 5,000 saliva tests that the association uses to select potential bone marrow donors and registering them with the Italian Register. Every year, many people need a transplant to combat diseases such as lymphoma and leukaemia.
• ANT Italia Non-Profit Foundation - “Children in ANT”. The third goal was achieved: free at-home medical care for 40 children with cancer and 14 months of psychological support for minors coping with the illness of a loved one; training in schools to involve children and young people and deal with the issue of mourning.
• Don Bosco Mission Community - CMB: “An educational-schooling centre in Ghana”. The second goal was achieved and exceeded: support for 38 months of a literacy school in Ghana by purchasing school material and helping with the costs of utilities and staff salaries.
• Marevivo Non-Profit Organisation - “Let's save our seas from plastic”. Second goal achieved: commitment to collect 1,000 kg of plastic in a year, to keep Italian seas clean and promote recycling. To achieve this goal, Marevivo decided to support the LifeGate PlasticLess® project which uses modern Seabin technology.
• Theodora Non-Profit Organisation - “Dr. Dream’s special hospital visits”. Fourth goal achieved: 18 months of “visits” by Dr. Dream to the children hospitalised at the Policlinico Sant’Orsola-Malpighi and the Bellaria Hospital in Bologna, making their hospitalisation a less traumatic experience.
• Treedom Foundation Non-Profit Organisation - “Let’s green Madagascar!”. First goal achieved and exceeded: creation of a tree nursery in Madagascar, with the production and distribution of 3,500 plants to 100 farming families, who will receive agro-forestry training.
• UNHCR - “An education for the children of Chad”. Second goal achieved: a year of schooling to roughly 2,000 refugee children in Chad aimed at improving teacher training, supplying teaching materials and promoting education for girls.

As was the case for the third edition of the project, in addition to Group employees who could take part either through a monthly donation directly deducted from their payslip, or through Hextra, the company’s integrated corporate welfare system, the project was also extended externally, as new Hera customers were able to choose to donate one euro to one of the seven organisations when signing a contract with Hera.

Furthermore, the Hera Group will make an important contribution, acting through the companies Hera Comm and Hera Comm Marche, which donated one euro for each new customer during the three years of the project.

This edition also saw two non-recurring initiatives: a fundraiser for the 2020 Coronavirus emergency, which collected 65,000 euro thanks to the donations made by Hera employees, and a fundraiser for the conflict in Ukraine, which so far has collected over 25,000 euro.

To support the HeraSolidale project, in 2021 the Group also decided to involve employees in donating a symbolic fee when individual employees decide to redeem company mobile phones and tablets for personal use.

From July 2020 until December 2022, approximately 535,000 euro were raised: roughly 210,000 euro were donated by employees through payroll deductions and Hextra, and over 325,000 euro were donated by Hera Comm and Hera Comm Marche.

In addition, the Hera Group, in parallel with the extraordinary editions of HeraSolidale, in 2020 donated €550,000 to health services in Emilia-Romagna, Veneto, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, and Marche during the covid-19 emergency, and in 2022 donated €200,000 to the Emilia-Romagna Agency for Territorial Security and Civil Protection for the Ukrainian people affected by the conflict.

The fifth edition of HeraSolidale will begin in the summer of 2023, with four participating non-profit organisations selected by employees. Within March 2023, employees will choose the organisations from a list of 10 proposals, identified with the same criteria as the previous year, with the addition of an assessment of their position in the 5x1000 ranking.

The projects mentioned here, through partnerships with interested organisations and public administrations, contribute to achieving UN 2030 Agenda goal 17.17.

A digital identity for everyone

This initiative creates and assigns a Group digital identity to all employees. It changes the approach previously adopted, whereby specific digital services were only available if they were strictly related to work: with this project, a minimum set of digital services is identified, and thus implicitly also a digital identity that every employee belonging to the Group must possess regardless of their work activity. These services are: the internal corporate portal, corporate e-mail, the corporate collaboration systems of the Microsoft 365 package, and the corporate “SAM” services app.

The devices used for accessing digital identity were extensive, and at the end of the project included:

• individual company workstations;
• shared company workstations;
• personal PCs;
• company mobile phone or tablets;
• personal mobile phones or tablets;
• personal protection equipment totems.

In terms of training, a first-time access guide was handed out during distribution, including identity details (login name, e-mail, etc.). The guide then referred to the training provided for the use of the minimum services on the internal training portal (MyAcademy).

As regards communication, media coverage was given to this initiative, reaching all project participants both through articles in House Organ (the Group’s internal magazine) and through posters installed in all available offices. Lastly, the distribution process was adjusted to take account of new recruits.

During the initial recovery phase for employees who were without a digital identity, the project involved approximately 2,000 users. By 31 December 2022, 98.3% of Hera Group employees had activated their digital identity and were using it in their ordinary work activities.

This project aimed to bridge an initial gap in the digital divide, namely the availability of services. The company is now focusing on strengthening the digital skills of its employees: the “Digital Workplace” programme aims at an increased adoption of digital collaboration tools and, for more experienced employees, the possibility of developing customised productivity and advanced analysis tools.

Digital identities contribute to achieving UN 2030 Agenda goal 8.2.

How does the initiative contribute to responsible digital transformation? The benefits achieved in terms of Corporate digital responsibility factors

Delivering secure, privacy-compliant solutions that ensure the privacy of workers’ data.
Distribution, training and multi-device availability of digital services to all workers to promote digital inclusion and overcome the digital divide.
Extensive communication channels that use digitalisation as a tool to provide workers with all protective measures to ensure their health and safety.

Secure solutions delivered to the entire workforce to ensure IT security and a responsible use of technology, thus limiting exposure to external intrusions.

Circular economy in the supply chain 

Also in 2023, consistently with the “Resolve” model proposed by the Ellen Mac Arthur Foundation, the Hera Group applied the four cardinal principles of circularity (eco-efficiency, dematerialisation, renewability, recyclability) in its procurement, constantly seeking to reconcile them with the objectives of compliance with current regulations on procurement, equal treatment of suppliers, transparency, free competition and supplier rotation. 

The principles of the circular economy were either translated into technical reward criteria within tenders using the most economically advantageous bid method, or were included in the technical specifications when planning requirements. 

In 2023, a reporting model continued to be applied so as monitor the impact of the initiatives introduced. In particular, coherently with what had previously been done to monitor the use of sustainability criteria in contracting, the technical criteria traceable to circular economy principles were mapped. 

In 2023, circularity criteria were established for over 92% of the awarded tenders with the most economically advantageous offer, an increase of 10 percentage points compared to 2022, with an average score of 10.2. The value generated by circular elements stands at 14.3% of the value of 2023 awarded tenders awarded with the most economically advantageous offer. 

As of 2021, a lowest-price circularity reporting methodology has been progressively extended to all Hera Group purchases. Applying the new circularity reporting model, it is estimated that in the tenders awarded in 2023 with the lowest price, the value generated by circular elements amounted to more than 12 million euro (it was 10 million in 2022), equal to approximately 4% of the total value. 

Overall, considering both most economically advantageous bid method tenders and tenders with the lowest price, the value attributable to circularity elements stands at over 10.5% of the value of all tenders awarded in 2023. 

The main tenders awarded at the lowest price with elements of circularity included in the technical specifications are as follows: 

• In the private negotiation subject to NRRP financing concerning the reclamation of sections of the water network for the reduction of leaks in the aqueduct networks managed by AcegasApsAmga in the areas of Padua and Trieste, with a starting bid of 4.5 million euro, compliance with the CAM (minimum environmental criteria) for construction envisaged by the Ministry of Ecological Transition was set out in the special tender specifications. In addition, the Type III environmental product declaration (EPD) was required for the products used in the contract, as well as compliance with the Reach regulation relating to the environmental and human health dangers of chemical products. The recovery of material and end-of-life destination was set out, as well as the division of the origin of the material used into % of renewable source and non-renewable source. With regard to waste from construction and demolition, both preparation for the reuse of at least 70% (in terms of weight) and a management plan that addresses the end of life of the products have been taken into account.
• In the open procedure relating to the start-up service for the recovery of waste known as dehydrated sludge produced by the purifiers in the municipality of Trieste and Padua, with a starting price of approximately 5 million euro, the special tender specifications and/or the Tender Notice required possession of the UNI EN ISO 14001 Environmental Management System certification, declarations certifying the availability of sites involved in direct reuse in agriculture for the type of waste in addition to 40% (50% for composting) of the annual minimum quantity (as a technical capacity requirement, etc.) and for each treatment site, proof of the appropriate authorisations relating to the recovery/treatment operations for dehydrated sludge (CER 19.08.05) object of the service, declaration for agricultural sites certifying possession of a valid authorisation for use in agriculture (with reference to specific legal provisions) by agricultural companies authorised to receive and use such special waste in agronomic practices. In addition, it should be noted that the object of this procedure intrinsically involves a final product, which after treatment constitutes biodegradable and/or compostable material suitable for reuse for agricultural purposes, therefore “end of life” recycling.

See the section of our Non-financial disclosure dedicated to the selection of suppliers for an account of the technical reward criteria set out in the invitation letter for the main tenders awarded with the most economically advantageous bid method.