Founded in 1933, ORI Martin is a world class steel and rolling mill, with expertise in manufacturing special steels for the automotive sector. Ever since it installed its first electric arc furnace in 1950, the company has strived to lead by example. Sustainability and Corporate Communications Manager Carolina de Miranda explained how ORI Martin is helping to create a greener steel industry. Report by Imogen Ward.
Italian-based ORI Martin is an industryleading advocate for environmental protection, creating a workplace that prioritises sustainable production and promotes employee welfare.
“We have rethought our processes, with the view of maintaining our environmental and social responsibilities,” said Sustainability and Corporate Communications Manager Carolina de Miranda. “Starting with the monitoring of our carbon emissions in 2018, we are constantly observing our scope one, two and three emissions. This is the first step towards achieving carbon neutrality.”
The group offers more than 200 different steel grades, for automotive, energy and construction, with the help of ten
subsidiaries (occupying more than 246,000 square metres) in Italy, plus sales offices in Germany and France.
Retaining a positive lead
ORI Martin understands how impactful the steel industry can be on the environment. Setting the perfect example for others, the company has developed several projects to help play its part in protecting the planet. Collaborating with technical partners, including Tenova, Turboden and A2A, ORI Martin has developed a crucial heat recovery system (the first of its kind in Italy). The project is worth more than €12 million and placed ORI Martin in the spotlight as an innovator.
“The i-Recovery System is our main project, and we are very proud of it,” said Ms de Miranda. “It absorbs the heat produced by our electric arc furnace, preventing it from being dispersed into the atmosphere. The heat is recovered through steam generation and can be transformed into thermal energy that we feed into Brescia’s district heating network. Alternatively, we can generate electricity using an organic fluid turbine.
“Thanks to this system, we can generate 10 megawatts of heating over the winter period, which is equivalent to supplying 2,000 homes.”
In parallel to this project, ORI Martin also collaborated with Turboden to create HEATLEAP – a thermal heat recovery system, targeted towards steel production. With a total cost of €6.5 million, the project was awarded a €2.5 million grant from the European Commission and
features a custom-made heat pump, which keeps the thermal waste at a suitable temperature for injection into Brescia’s heating network.
“Thanks to the HEATLEAP project, we successfully recover most of the thermal waste from the production of our steel,” said Ms de Miranda. “This waste would have previously been dispersed into the environment, but thanks to the Turboden’s heat pump – which is currently the largest in the world – we are able to minimise our carbon footprint, whilst also providing the wider community with cleaner energy. The HEATLEAP prevents an estimated 5,000 tonnes of CO2 from entering the atmosphere, which of course is a huge economic advantage.”
Sustaining employee welfare
The wellbeing of employees is also a cru cial element of ORI Martin’s corporate ethos. “The development of any human resources must include support for the wellbeing and personal satisfaction of
employees,” Ms De Miranda explained. “Which is why, over the past few years, we have promoted various initiatives aimed at improving the work-life balance.”
On a financial level, an integration fund has been set up for employees’ and their families health costs and other solidarity interventions (FAIO, ORI Martin Internal Assistance Fund).
ORI Martin provides ad hoc scholarships to reimburse the expenses incurred by employees related to their childrens’ education, such as tuition, university fees and textbooks. Another solidarity initiative
takes place in the event of the death of an employee where one working hour (from each employee) is donated to the heirs of the deceased.
For every €5 staff contribution, ORI Martin will match the investment, providing a positive safety net for all those that work there.
“We really try to create a positive and supportive environment at ORI Martin,” Ms De Miranda added. “We also give out bonuses, gift packages for the children of employees and, since 1980, we have run Il Gruppo Anziani which helps support ageing workers and encourages volunteering outside of the working environment.
“Lastly, from 1st January 2022, the ORI Martin Group has decided to make an extraordinary contribution of €3,000 to every employee who becomes a parent; concrete help for our employees at a delicate moment in life and a positive stimulus to the demographic inversion our country is experiencing.”
Maintaining a green legacy
With its roots planted almost a century ago, ORI Martin has progressed and evolved gradually, creating a clean and ingenious operation. As part of its commitment to a cleaner planet, ORI Martin aims to cut its scope one and two carbon emissions to 30% by 2030.
In 2019, the company signed a fiveyear Power Purchase Agreement with DXT Commodities and KGAL Investment Management. As part of this agreement, a 53MW photovoltaic power station was constructed. Following on from this, the company now plans to increase the use
of renewable energy, both by installing photovoltaic panels on its facilities and by signing a Power Purchase Agreement with the goal of guaranteeing that almost 25% of its energy requirements originate from renewables.
Ms de Miranda had quite a retrospective outlook when discussing her hopes for the company’s upcoming anniversary:
“We have almost reached our 90-year anniversary; as you can imagine, a lot has changed during this time. A lot of the time people don’t like change – they prefer to stick with what they know – but change is necessary in business. Following in the footsteps of our founding fathers, the
ORI Martin is experienced in special steel production, manufacturing a large range of products, including:
• Continuous casting billets
• Hot rolled Wire rods
• Induction tempered wire
• Hot rolled round bars and square bars
company maintains its strong values and continues to push forward and evolve.
“I think our 90th anniversary, as well as our centenary, will be a great opportunity for reflection. I would like to create a visualisation of all the company’s major milestones to really highlight everything we have accomplished throughout the years.
“Given the opportunity, I’d also love to take the family members of our employees on tours of the site to show them how much effort the workers put into their job roles. From the outside, it is hard to fully appreciate how much work is involved in day-today operations, and I’d really like to acknowledge that.”
Growing up in the family business, Ms de Miranda always understood the importance of the steel industry; however, now with an inside perspective she has come to appreciate how the industry could develop.
“I didn’t join the family business until a few years ago,” Ms de Miranda concluded. “When I was a child, I was taught all about steel, and how ORI Martin uses it, but I didn’t fully comprehend what we could really do, how we could make a difference. In my new role, I realised very quickly that my main ambition was to work towards ensuring the company felt just like a family. Creating that atmosphere really gives me satisfaction
and inner tranquillity, because I know that I have helped make people happy.
“I always make sure to talk to everyone and ensure they are satisfied, and that’s something I gained from my grandfather. He passed away 10 years ago, but up until the very last day he made the effort to come into the company to work with the employees and check their wellbeing. That is the ORI Martin way.”
