The first integrated system in Europe for producing quality fuel from solid urban waste was launched on Monday, 14 April. The first practical application is underway at the Robilante cement plant.

The project to produce eco-sustainable and economically self-sufficient WDF-P (Waste Derived Fuel), has been successfully achieved thanks to the close cooperation between the Province of Cuneo, ACSR, a firm that collects the waste from 54 Cuneo municipalities (which was sent to the landfill before), and Pirelli & C. Ambiente, which operates in the field of energy and material recovery, based on technology developed by Pirelli. The Robilante cement plant, located 12 kilometers away from Cuneo, is the first plant to use this new alternative fuel in co-combustion with coal or petcoke. 
The dry fraction of solid urban refuse and similar waste is selected, shredded, dried and then mixed with high calorific components (including scrap tires, PFU and non-chlorinated plastics). These are the steps necessary for transforming waste into an alternative quality fuel for use in existing, non-dedicated industrial plants such as cement kilns and power plants.
It's only a short step from transformation of the WDF-P at the I.D.E.A. (Integration of Energy into the Environment) Granda di Roccavione production plant (a mixed public and private consortium) to use as a co-combustible in the main furnace of Robilante's kilns 2 and 3. There is no environmental impact either, since the WDF-P does not emit dust and/or odors. By ensuring the consistency and homogeneity of the product, low moisture and chlorine content, and high calorific value, WDF-P represents a more favorable solution than disposal in a landfill or waste-to-energy systems.
Five years of experimenting have led to this opportunity for recovering energy from waste, which reduces landfill disposal and the use of incinerators and solves the issue of waste disposal in an economically and more environmentally friendly way for the community, and also confirms the strategic commitment of our Group towards environmental protection and sustainable development.

On February 26th, 2003, in Rome at Luiss University premises, Sam Research (Zurich) and Luiss presented the results of the benchmarking on corporate sustainability survey they jointly conducted on a panel of 75 Italian companies listed on Mib30, Mibtel-New Market and Midex, as compared with about 600 companies listed on Dow Jones STOXX.
Buzzi Unicem has ranked first among the companies of the industry sector in the field of "sustainable development", with an excellence level of 52% versus a European best level of 70% scored by BAA Plc (UK airport facilities) and an average level in the same sector of 31% for Italian companies and 33% for European companies respectively. The analysis, pursuing the "best-in-class" principle, has assessed the corporate "triple bottom line" - i.e. economic, environmental and social quality - with the aim of identifying the best sustainable companies in each of the ten sectors examined.
The benchmarking report highlights Buzzi Unicem's leadership in both environmental performances and management. The evaluation has been carried out by the same methodology SAM used for Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI), whose analysis process is certified by PriceWaterhouseCoopers.
At present 38 financial institutions worldwide manage funds and other financial instruments for a volume of €2.6 billion using the DJSI criteria in the investment decisions.

The concrete plants in Livorno, Settimello (Florence) and Castelfiorentino (Florence) headed by Betonval S.p.A., obtained the UNI EN ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001. This achievement joins the certification acquired by the UNICAL's plant at Orbassano (Turin), which in July 2001 was the first Italian company in the concrete production field to get the Integrated Certification for Environment and Safety.

This Environment and Safety acknowledgement for those plants is a prestigious recognition which will be useful to the Area Sales Managers, the Plant Managers and appreciated by all Plant Operators. To reach this result, the Plant Managers and engineers have followed through the years long consolidated operating practices together with a global self-detection carried out on the basis of strict specifically documented logics and mandatory targets.

Translated into more practical terms, Integrated Certification represents the particular attention of the company to its production system to understand and solve any critical points;. not least it is a witness of our Group's respect for community and for the environment in which we live and produce.