Environmental Protection
A clean environment is essential for people’s well-being: the health of the planet and the health of people are interconnected. Environmental elements, such as air, water, land and climate, all have an impact on the well-being of humans. Placing a focus on people’s health and being sustainable therefore also means prioritising environmental protection and a responsibility towards future generations. This is why the Group ensures that it conducts business in a socially responsible manner and in accordance with sustainable practices, national and international laws, and the expectations of stakeholders.
As defined in the Group Code of Ethics, Recordati is committed to implementing policies aimed at increasing the environmental sustainability of the Company’s business and meeting all related legal and regulatory requirements. Everybody is required to respect the corporate procedures and standards in force and to report any deficiencies or failure to respect these in a timely fashion. In performance of its activities, the Group:
- uses advanced technologies for the purposes of environmental protection, energy efficiency, the sustainable use of resources, combating climate change and protecting our natural world and biodiversity;
- promotes initiatives in production plants aimed at minimising energy and water consumption and reducing the emission of greenhouse gases and other pollutants into the atmosphere;
- is dedicated to reducing the production of waste linked to manufacturing activities, with a particular focus on correctly disposing of chemical and pharmaceutical products. Uses materials which can be recycled or disposed of in accordance with applicable regulations;
- promotes environmental protection by providing information and holding regular training courses, appointing officers responsible for compliance with environmental management issues, and by carrying out inspections and verifications of the conformity of manufacturing sites;
- provides regular information to stakeholders regarding its environmental commitment.
Principal initiatives to combat climate change implemented by the Recordati Group
Initiatives to purchase and produce renewable energy: as regards electricity, as part of Recordati’s constant focus on the environment and its commitment to reducing atmospheric emissions, the Group increased its procurement of electricity from renewable sources. In 2022, approximately 84% of the electricity purchased for the production and packaging plants and for the annexed offices came from renewable energy certified by guarantees of origin for the European countries and I-REC for Türkiye. The Group aims to ensure that 100% of the electricity purchased for the Group’s production and packaging sites and annexed offices is from renewable sources by 20251.
1. Purchase of renewable electricity for plants located in countries where it is available.
Furthermore, the Group is pursuing a series of initiatives aimed at installing renewable energy plants. In particular, for the Spanish production plant in Utebo, in March 2022 installation of the solar panels on the roof of the plant was completed, generating around 10% of the electricity required for the plant’s annual activities. The electricity produced is used entirely within the plant. Furthermore, at the end of 2022, at the Irish chemical-pharmaceutical site in Cork, over 1,400 square metres of solar panels were installed, generating 10-15% of the energy required for the plant’s annual activities.
In 2023, the Group aims to finalise the feasibility studies for installing additional renewable energy production systems at the following plants: Italy (Campoverde), Ireland (Cork), Tunisia (Opalia), Türkiye (Çerkezköy).
Main energy efficiency and energy use monitoring initiatives: In recent years, the Group has implemented various efficiency initiatives, including the gradual, programmed replacement of traditional lighting systems with LED lights or the installation of motion sensors to reduce electricity consumption. Today, many areas of Group manufacturing sites and offices are already equipped with LED lighting systems.
Furthermore, in 2022, to reduce energy consumption, the installation of two inverter blowers was completed at the Campoverde di Aprilia production plant in Italy. The installation is aimed at controlling the oxygenation levels of the wastewater treatment plant, enabling the regulation — and thereby improving the efficiency — of the machine’s power based on the actual needs of the treatment plant (resulting in an estimated 50% reduction in electricity consumption compared to the operating conditions of the unit scheduled for replacement).
A Co-Generation system is operating at the Campoverde plant in Aprilia. Through the use of a single fuel source (natural gas), the co-generation system enables the plant to generate enough electricity to meet its needs, sell any excess to the national grid and produce all of the steam used in the plant without the use of any additional gas or resources. Without this production of steam using the gas turbine fumes in the steam recovery boiler, an estimated 4.5 million cubic metres of additional gas would have been required in 2022 alone, corresponding to approximately 36% of the plant’s annual gas consumption in 2022. This enabled the avoidance of 8,950 tonnes of CO2.
Incentivisation of eco-friendly vehicles: the Group carried out a monitoring and control activity to assess the emissions of its global fleet of company vehicles. In 2022, approximately 2,030 company cars were in use by employees of the Recordati group. In order to lower the environmental impact of the company fleet, in 2022, a new Group Car Policy was issued which introduced a maximum limit on CO2 emissions for new cars in the company fleet. The number of charging stations for electric and hybrid vehicles was also increased at several sites.



Water Management
The Recordati group recognises the value of natural resources and in particular the value of water resources. For this reason, the Group invests its efforts in the development of manufacturing processes aimed at reducing water consumption and managing the quality of wastewater.
To this end, Group production plants are equipped with systems and procedures to monitor consumption and wastewater. The use of water resources primarily impacts the manufacturing cycle and process cooling, in addition to sanitary uses.


Waste Management and Circular Economy
The Recordati group’s commitment to environmental protection is also evidenced by its activities to reduce the waste produced by its activities, the adoption of a circular approach, wherever possible, aimed at recovery and re-use, and the correct disposal of chemical and pharmaceutical products, particularly at its production sites.
Among the main initiatives implemented at the Group’s plants with regard to waste management and the circular economy, for example, at the Campoverde di Aprilia site, with the recovery of palladium from the flavoxate process, since 2022, the Group has been able to recover at least 55% of the palladium used in all processes. The recovered palladium is added back into the production process. In 2022, the Group recovered and reused around 3.3 kg of palladium, reducing the use of new raw materials.