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PRESENTATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL NUMBERS
The Prysmian Group has selected a number of significant
matters from among those common to all operating units.
Not limited to environmental issues, these topics also include
responsibilities towards employees and the local communities
as a competitive factor that contributes value to the Group.
These aspects are considered representative and significant
in relation to the activities of the Prysmian Group. This Report
presents indicators showing their importance:
• energy consumption, obtained as the sum of all energy
sources used in manufacturing and service activities;
• water consumption, which is significant due to the large
volumes needed for cooling in the various production cycles;
• hazardous and non-hazardous waste, with a potential
impact on various environmental factors and very
considerable importance in the assessment of process
efficiency;
• ozone-depleting substances which, although small in
amount, are present in almost every production unit and
are carefully controlled to prevent leakages and reduce their
potential atmospheric impact;
• emissions of greenhouse gases, primarily linked to the use
of sources of energy and, to a limited extent, to the use of
greenhouse gases at certain stages of production;
• efficiency in the use of raw materials, given the intensive
use of valuable metals, such as copper and aluminium, as an
essential part of most production processes, as well as the
amount of scrap generated.
Based on assessments and Prysmian’s past experience, the
Group does not report on the following aspects, which are
considered to be less significant:
• waste water originating from cooling systems, if not
contained within a closed-circuit system and if not requiring
special treatment;
• atmospheric emissions generated by production processes,
which are not especially significant in most cases.
Compared with the prior edition of the Sustainability Report,
this edition includes the Nantong Haixun (HD) and Nantong
Zhongyao (ZD) factories in China, which are classified in the
accessories category. In addition, data relating to the Gold
Rock factory in the USA and the “Harnesses” department
at the Velké M. factory, previously included in the energy
category, is now classified in the accessories category.
No data has been collected for offices or the R&D labs because
of their low environmental impact, or for certain production
sites not yet fully equipped to collect data. Specifically:
Wuhan, (China); Pune, Chiplun (India); Grombalia (Tunisia)
1
;
Environmental data is not yet reported in relation to
the installation of terrestrial and submarine cables (the
environmental aspects and methods of management differ
greatly from those of the operating units), since the set-up
work and related projects are still ongoing in preparation
METHODOLOGY FOR ENVIRONMENTAL NUMBERS
for the future collection and reporting of representative
indicators, using dedicated tools.
Compared with the prior year, the quantities of greenhouse
gases (in kg of CO
2
equivalent) originating from production
processes other than combustion are now reported. These
mainly derive from the leakage (solely from seals) of
refrigerant gases. The conversion factors used to estimate
the quantity of CO
2
equivalent deriving from the emission of
greenhouse gases are contained in the fourth assessment
report adopted by the intergovernmental panel on climate
change, IPCC, and included in the proposed amendment to
the EU Regulation on the management of greenhouse gases.
These greenhouse gas emissions are additional to those
deriving from the production of electricity, which depends on
the energy mix applying in each country and the combustion
processes used within the Group.
(1) The environmental data for the production sites not included in this analysis is not thought to be significant, with respect to the mass of environmental
data reported, considering the low number of sites involved (about 5% of the total) and the limited extent of production at those locations.
