By the end of 2021, RDM Group, Italy’s leading producer of recycled-based coated cardboard, will use electricity from renewable sources only in its national plants. It is the result of an energy efficiency policy launched in July 2020 and ready to be replicated at foreign offices. Among the companies in the manufacturing sector, those of paper are considered among the most energy intensive both in terms of the use of electricity and natural gas. Companies that are often characterized by the processing and production of recycled material but which, at the same time, are hungry for energy.
The numbers of the paper sector in Italy
Energy efficiency, therefore, is the main challenge for a sector which, for Assocarta, has 119 companies in Italy for a total of 19,100 employees, 153 plants and a 2019 turnover of 7.26 billion euros. According to the data of the latest Environmental Report of the Italian paper industry (2020) produced by Assocarta and Legambiente, “as regards the production of paper or cardboard, starting from virgin fiber, about 500 to 1300 kWh / t of electricity are required and from about 1300 kWh / t to 3000 kWh / t of heat; starting from the pulping, the electricity requirement varies from about 900 kWh / t to about 1500 kWh / t, while the thermal energy requirement from about 1100 kWh / t to about 2300 kWh / t. […]On the Assocarta sample – which does not include companies in the press sector – the reduction in energy consumption (for the period 1995-2019) was […] equal to about 30% “. Energy efficiency is therefore a priority for the entire industry.
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Green energy for Reno de Medici in 2021
RDM Group, starting from the second half of last year, launched a zero-emission electricity purchase program in all Italian paper mills (Santa Giustina, Villa Santa Lucia and Ovaro) and in the Magenta cutting center. A path that, continuing in 2021, will lead to the purchase by the end of the year of electricity produced 100% from renewable sources (solar, wind and hydroelectric) and certified according to EU standards by the Italian agency for energy services (GSE).
«RDM Group’s energy efficiency plan envisaged the replacement, where possible, of fossil fuels with renewable sources, also extended to external energy suppliers – explains Fabio Invernizzi, RDM Group group energy manager -. This process was undertaken on a voluntary basis starting from the Italian plants from July 2020, as the national energy market allows the choice of the electricity supplier that produces from renewable sources ».
RDM Group aims to reduce emissions, including indirect ones resulting from the use of the portion of electricity withdrawn from the national electricity grid. A commitment in line with the core business and history of the Italian company: “Attention to the environment is in our DNA, we produce cardboard for packaging from recycled sources and our goal is to give new life to materials generally considered waste but that we consider a resource, all in line with the principles of the circular economy – comments Michele Bianchi, CEO of RDM Group -. To do this we are very attentive to certifications. In the next few years we intend to invest in the use of hydrogen as an energy source ».