RENOLIT ALKORPLAN, THE FUTURE IS GREENER THAN EVER
Sustainability manager Jennifer Witty Che is paving the way: «In five years from now we plan to be an example for everyone». Great results have already been achieved in terms of CO2 emissions (-76% in transport) and recycling (+100% in eight years). Nine objectives of the SDGs the company is already working on.
Sant Celoni, Barcelona, June 10th, 2021 - The future of RENOLIT ALKORPLAN in the next five years? It will set an example for other companies on how to do business in a sustainable way, specifically one that produces PVC membranes, and how excellent products can be made while protecting the environment. This was stated by Jennifer Witty Che, the sustainability manager at RENOLIT ALKORPLAN roofing products, an international reference point for the production of durable, versatile, and high-quality certified synthetic membranes for waterproofing roofs and covers. The goal is ambitious but the road is clear: RENOLIT ALKORPLAN roofing products has in fact been paying more and more attention to what and how the products are being manufactured, and a key role such as the sustainability manager is the crucial element that will favor and accelerate this process.
The European Green Deal, the plan for sustainable investments to make Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050, obviously pays a great deal of attention to construction, responsible for 40% of energy consumption and 36% of CO2 emissions. The goal by 2050 is to have 'zero energy buildings', which need to respect certain values of kWh/m2, being characterized by low use of fossil resources to the advantage of renewables. The same market trends have been going in this direction for some time now, giving heed to investment costs, performance, life cycle, installation and comfort. A market that is increasingly attentive not only to cost and quality but also to the sustainability of products.
Research on the environmental and energy impact of its products commissioned by RENOLIT ALKORPLAN roofing products to CIRCE, the technological center founded in 1993 working to provide innovative solutions for sustainable development, is part of RENOLIT ALKORPLAN's strategy of increasing attention to the environment, company, and employees. «The main goal is to be sustainable at every level - explains Jennifer Witty Che -, which means dealing with energy efficiency, waste production, recycling, CO2 emissions». In recent years, the optimization of logistics has drastically reduced emissions, thanks to greater direct deliveries, fewer triangulations through warehouses and goods rail transport which have cut CO2 emissions down by 76%. Significant results were also obtained on the recycling front: 8,500 tons of recycled material per year, +100% of waste material recycled in the last eight years, 50% of recycled material in every square meter of membrane, and 8% of the employed workforce in the recycling process.
There is still a long way to go but the foundations are well marked. Jennifer Witty Che explains that the support for the work she has been doing is unanimous within RENOLIT ALKORPLAN, at all levels. «We want to be sustainable and I am here to contribute to get there». It means to raise awareness of what to do, starting also from individual behaviors at home, not only in the workplace, awareness of problems and solutions. «Sustainability - says the manager - means that we use resources without exhausting them or wasting them for future generations. We are a company and we make profits, otherwise it would not make sense to have a business, but we are attentive to the people collaborating with us, to the customers, and to the community we belong to. And, obviously, also to the environment we find ourselves in». Today this progress translated into nine out of 18 sustainable development goals of the United Nations 2030 Agenda which RENOLIT ALKORPLAN is active on to bring about concrete improvements. «Health and well-being - explains Jennifer Witty Che -, gender equality, decent work and economic growth, innovation, reduction of inequalities, responsible consumption and production, the fight against climate change, life underwater, and partnerships are the nine objectives of 2030 Agenda which we are able to make our contribution to. We will become greener and greener». Because we owe it to the new generations. «We know that the first thing to do is to avoid producing waste - says Jennifer Witty Che -. And this is what we are trying to do, along with many more actions».