SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2018
FDA) on materials coming into contact with food.
DISCLOSURE 417-2, 417-3
In matters of product environmental communication, the Group’s job is facilitated most of all by the ISO standards governing environmental labelling. In particular, for the High Performance Polymers and Synthetic Fibres and Nonwovens Business Areas, the LCA-based Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) and related publishing obligations, aid the Group in maintaining a high level of transparency. Due to the effort spent on environmental labelling and communication within the reporting period, no Group company has reported incidents of non-compliance concerning product and service information and labelling or incidents of non-compliance concerning marketing communications. Furthermore, an ongoing and growing relationship of trust and mutual respect with the media is proof that RadiciGroup corporate and product communication is truthful and reliable.
MANAGEMENT APPROACH 103-1
Innovation and research for the future of RadiciGroup and its stakeholders During the second half of 2018, RadiciGroup worked at creating a new corporate function called “Innovation & Research” intended to serve as the central think tank for all design and development activities for the advancement of technologies, processes and products for the entire Group. The mission of the new function will be to “identify and develop” new opportunities for “radical innovation”, consistent with
the RadiciGroup vision. The activities of the Innovation & Research function will complement the R&D work carried on in the Group Business Areas. The activities of the new function will revolve around sustainability, aided by the following guiding principles that will help to make decisions and choices for future initiatives: • Focus efforts on products that customers and, more generally speaking, stakeholders actually need, looking at things with a wider perspective instead of just pure market considerations. • Search for innovative processes able to provide 360-degree sustainability solutions, which would take into account environmental, social and economic aspects. • Pursue operational efficiency and return on investment from products, without neglecting the search for partners and innovators outside the Group. • Prove the value of Group processes and products through objective measurements of performance and impacts, striving with renewed commitment for a more rigorous, transparent and scientific approach as a response to the widespread perception of “greenwashing”. During the reporting year, the Group was involved in numerous R&D projects dealing with as many different subjects and paying special attention to recycling, recyclability, and bio sources. Specifically, research work was conducted on: • Polyamides from renewable source materials and derivatives in the fibres and polymers sector. • Monomers for polyamides from renewable source materials. • Long-chain polyamides for the compounds sector.
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