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toputility110 Achieving excellence in any field or industry is no easy feat, doing so year after year even less so. Yet this is exactly what the Hera Group has succeeded in doing at the sixth edition of Top Utility Analysis, which declared the Bologna-based Group to be Italy's most eco-sustainable public service company out of 100 contenders. The report, drawn up by independent company Althesys, rewarded Hera for its"attention to efficient use of energy and resources, improved corporate social responsibility results and the centrality of sustainability to its strategy". This acknowledgement - a repeat of the recognition obtained in the same area in 2015 - follows the Top Utility Absolute award received in 2013 and the Top Utility Communication award of 2014. A shared goal throughout the company, sustainability is the subject of a specific yearly report that ensures all parties can count on complete up-to-the-minute information on the Group's social and environmental impact. The sustainability report is constantly evolving. Following last year's introduction of an indicator showing what proportion of gross operating margin is generated by activities that respond to UN Global Agenda 2030 goals, next year will see an in-depth overhaul to ensure ever-more effective representation of the direct links between actions taken and the contribution to sustainable development. A clear example of this takes the form of the biomethane plant being built at Sant'Agata Bolognese, expected to come on line in the last quarter of 2018. It has been cited by the Global Compact as a world-class example of how to achieve UN Agenda goal n. 7 ("Clean, accessible energy"). Once fully operational, the use of innovative anaerobic digestion and upgrading technologies will allow the facility to produce 20,000 tons of high-quality natural fertiliser and 8 million cubic metres of biomethane (a 100% renewable fuel) from the separate collection of organic waste every year. This is a major project that aims to convert and modernise an existing facility without taking up any more land. It will save over 6,000 tons of oil a year and provide tangible proof that sustainability is, indeed, the way forward. A way forward that starts with families, by collecting and using their kitchen scraps (i.e. the separated organic waste) and ends with real local benefits in the form of a gas that can, for example, power private vehicles or public transport, with immediate improvements in air quality. While that's just one of many examples of how Hera efficiently blends innovation with sustainable development (a wider set of activities was assessed by the survey), it does, perhaps, best represent how the Group's commitment to sustainability translates into a variety of sound initiatives which positively impact quality of life. toputility870 press_release.1519659248.pdf 2018-02-26 Read more toput870.1519659328.png The Hera Group comes out on top again at the sixth edition of the Award, which analyses and promotes the performance levels of the country's main public utility companies toputility110

petisland110 For the Hera Group, sustainability continues to be synonymous with art. Through Aliplast, the Group company that puts plastic through a treatment process that allows its reutilisation, Hera has, fact, provided the raw material with which artist Matteo Peretti created the works that make up PET Island, an exhibition being held at Fabbrica Arte Rimini (FAR) from 17 February to 2 April. The technical sponsor of Peretti's exhibition, Aliplast, engages, every day, in the fight against the pollution that has created the vast island of plastic floating in the Pacific Ocean. It is this island that the title of the Roman artist's exhibition half-jokingly refers to. In this sense, the perception of public duty behind Peretti's work, which examines the collective and social aspects of the subject matter, immediately won favour with the Hera Group, itself engaged in environmental education projects involving some 100,000 students from local schools. With this initiative the multiutility aims to restate its own distinctive commitment to the circular economy; for some time now, this has involved significant initiatives aimed at involving the art world in the regeneration of materials that would otherwise be headed for disposal. One such initiative is the SCART project, which, thanks to close collaboration between Waste Recycling (another Group company) and students from the Fine Art Academies of Bologna and Florence, has generated several events; these include a travelling exhibition consisting of works made entirely from waste, some of which were incorporated on Hera's stands during the most recent editions of the Rimini-held Ecomondo fair. petislan870 20180215_press_release.1519198486.pdf 2018-02-21 Read more pet870.1519198485.png This Hera Group company, a leader in the plastic recycling sector, provided the material for the artist's works, on show from 17 February to 2 April at Fabbrica Arte in Rimini petisland110

topemployers110 For the ninth consecutive year, the Hera Group has confirmed its position as a leader in Human Resources management. This acknowledgement comes from the Holland-based Top Employers Institute which has, since 1991, been researching workplace quality standards in the world's leading companies. According to the Dutch institute, the Hera Group proved to be deserving of "Top Employer" certification on account of "the excellent working conditions enjoyed by employees, a training and development policy that reaches every level of the company and advanced HR management strategies", all of which make Hera "committed to continuous improvement of policies and best practices". Today, Top Employers is a highly sought-after international acknowledgement. The certification process, which has, over the years, become ever-stricter, is based on analysis of objective data and in-depth checks. Key analysis parameters include investment in training and development, welfare and on-boarding policies for new hires, careful planning of selection processes and career paths, targeted talent-growing strategies, a positive corporate culture and an exciting, constructive workplace. Only those companies that achieve the required standards can be listed as Top Employers. In Italy, some 90 companies have been certified this year. These include the Hera Group (the first multiutility to take part in the project, from 2010 onwards), one of just 11 companies to attain uninterrupted recognition. More specifically, the company stood out on account of the "Hextra" integrated corporate welfare plan; set up in July 2016 and covering almost all the Group's 9,000 employees, it is also characterized by a quota of resources that can be "customised" by individual workers to suit their needs. Moreover, as of 2018 employees can convert their results bonuses into further welfare benefits: measures for striking a better work-life balance (smart working, leave/absence management policies and support when returning to the company), development policies and programmes aimed at raising every employee's level of health and safety awareness. What's more, the Group is one of the top Italian companies when it comes to investing in employee training and personal/professional development (it provides about 29 training hours per capita per year). Training experiences have been made more engaging and effective thanks to HerAcademy, the Corporate University that ensures close collaboration between companies and key academic institutions; moreover, 2017 saw the introduction of new, more personalised ways of getting the best out of training as part of the HER@futura programme. The company's heavy investment in training and its ties with the local communities where it operates are also evident in the Hera Educational programme. The latter focuses on providing students with work experience that aims to merge corporate skills with skills acquired in the secondary schools of Emilia-Romagna. Over 200 work experience programmes have been completed since 2015 and the project will soon be extended to schools in Veneto and Friuli-Venezia Giulia. The full Hera Group profile, with the reasons and criteria behind the certification, can be consulted at: www.topemployers.it topemployer870 press_release.1519658204.pdf 2018-02-26 Read more topemp870.1519658203.png The multiutility confirms its position as a leader in Human Resources management. The working conditions enjoyed by its employees are recognised as nothing less than excellent, as are training and development policies at every corporate level and continuous improvements to best practices topemployers110