Bedeschi publishes first sustainability report

Environmental protection, human resources, health and safety, training, gender equality, welfare, governance and cybersecurity are the main aspects incorporated into Bedeschi’s first sustainability report for the financial years 2020-2021.

The report sets out commitments for a future focused on growth, improvement and socioeconomic development of the community in which the company operates and the players that make up its value chain.

Building increasingly low-impact production plants

For a number of years, Bedeschi’s technologies have stood as a global benchmark for their proven energy efficiency and ability to reduce dust emissions. From this starting point, Bedeschi is developing virtuous projects that make complete or partial use of alternative fuels such as hydrogen in its plants. In particular, it aims to achieve zero impact by 2025 in terms of both the emissions generated directly by the company’s operations and the indirect emissions associated with imported energy.

“Throughout our more than 100-year history in the field of plant development and design, we have always maintained a strong focus on innovation,” explains the group’s CEO Rino Bedeschi. “Today, innovating means evolving in terms of sustainability. It is a concept that goes well beyond the production of eco-friendly solutions and involves the activity of the entire organisation, which is no longer focused solely on generating profit but also on creating value.”

Bedeschi has mapped out its carbon footprint by accurately determining the impact generated in terms of greenhouse gases and developing an appropriate offset strategy: 50% of direct emissions offset by 2023, 75% by 2024 and 100% by 2025. As much as 90% of all production waste is recycled in keeping with circular economy principles. Pollution reduction, R&D and the development of modern, eco-friendly equipment are a few of the many areas that the company will continue to invest in.

Human resources and digitalisation at the centre of the business model

Bedeschi is firmly committed to empowering its workforce through personal and professional growth programmes organised as part of a lifelong learning policy. In 2021, it set up the Bedeschi Academy, an ambitious and complex project aimed at further developing human capital within the organisation while at the same time improving the company’s competitiveness in its three core businesses and respective markets.

In 2022, around 80 employees received more than 690 hours of training in a variety of topics: technical, management, engineering, refresher courses, new employee training, etc. The company is committed to creating an inclusive, fairer and gender equal workplace. In particular, it has set itself the target of hiring 100% more women by the year 2021, bringing the proportion of female employees in the company to more than 15%. In the field of digitalization Bedeschi is introducing a new ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system to support business processes and also continuing to expand its management systems covering specific issues such as occupational health and safety, the environment and product and service quality.

The high standards attained are also attested by the certification agency RINA, which confirms compliance with the requirements of ISO 9001. The company undertakes to measure its performance annually and to report transparently on its goals in the three ESG areas of Environment, Social and Governance.