Sustainability Report 2022

Waste management

The potential and actual significant impacts resulting from the waste from the Group’s plants are mainly related to thermoplastic moulding and, where present, painting activities. The first, in particular, produces oily emulsions that in case of accidental dispersion could be toxic to water and soil. The painting activities produce sludge that is destined for disposal or incineration. Any hazardous waste (such as material contaminated with lubricating oils) is safely stored in dedicated warehouses. The production process also results in packaging waste, waste and production waste, mostly recyclable.

The end of life of the product is regulated by Directive 2000/53/EC, which requires manufacturers of vehicles and equipment to ensure the reuse and/or recovery of at least 95% of the weight of the vehicle. The need to comply with the legislation has led over time manufacturers to reorganize the production processes and materials used. The impact of PSC products in the end-of-life phase is therefore limited as almost all of them are reused or recovered.

In order to reduce waste production and thus prevent the related impacts, there are two preferred measures: the use of waste for recovery rather than disposal and the use of reusable packaging made of recyclable materials, through the selection of appropriate suppliers. In most factories, for example, waste is reused and reused in the production process.

In the Brazilian plants of PSCA and PSMM there is a constant monitoring, aimed at identifying the main sources of waste generation and the measures necessary for their reduction. The monitoring indicators are checked monthly in relation to the annual targets: if deviations from the targets are found, corrective measures are activated in a timely manner. Moreover, no waste produced by these plants is disposed of in landfills.

The waste produced in PSC plants is managed by third parties, acting in line with contractual and legal obligations. In PSMM Pernambuco disposal is instead managed by JEEP thanks to the involvement of a specialized subject. The third party companies entrusted with the collection and disposal service are all authorized to manage the waste according to the national laws in force; also the authorizations of the transporters and the recipients are periodically checked by the subjects in charge within the individual plants, both Italian and foreign.

Waste data are collected by filling in the loading and unloading registers, forms and the Single Model Environmental Declaration (MUD). The data are catalogued by CER code (or other waste code in non-European countries), detailing the type, characteristics, hazard classes and destination of waste; they are then recorded in special electronic databases to monitor the trend. In some plants, including all PCIT sites and the three in Brazil, monthly KPIs are set.

The following tables show the quantity, characterisation and destination of PSC waste over the last three years.

The amount of hazardous waste increased mainly due to the quantities generated at the Sosnowiec CPS site, but overall the amount of waste generated decreased by 7.6%.

The European Directives (and their transposition at national level) propose a legal framework for the control, generation and disposal of waste, recovery and recycling, and set a number of targets to be achieved and strategies to achieve this:

  • principle of prevention;
  • hierarchical principle of waste;
  • “polluter pays” principle;
  • green economy.

In accordance with the waste hierarchy principle, management must respect an order of priority:

  1. prevention;
  2. preparation for re-use;
  3. recycling;
  4. other recovery, for example energy recovery;
  5. disposal.

In this context, the 5R approach is applied in the plants of the Prima Components Italia and PSC do Brasil business units.

Il funzionamento alla base di questo strumento, rappresentato graficamente da una piramide rovesciata, poggia su alcuni assunti:

  • waste does not go to landfill
  • going to the top of the pyramid improves waste management;
  • minimise the amount of waste produced
  • the pyramid should flatten to the advantage of the inverted base with the improvement of waste management

Therefore, practical calls for action leading to better waste management are described as follows and are related to the different Rs

  • Refuse/Reject: avoid producing waste thanks to a proactive approach;
  • Reduce: if the first recommendation is not applicable, then the amount of waste produced and the environmental impact of the waste matrix must be reduced;
  • Reuse: each material must be reused as many times as possible before being thrown away;
  • Recycle: all waste that can be recycled to produce new raw material must be recovered;
  • Retrieve: some waste can be exploited to produce energy, e.g. through a waste-to-energy plant.

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