Milan, 7 October 2009. The Pirelli Group announces the launch of an incentive plan for purchase of Feelpure particulate filters produced by Pirelli Eco Technology, the Group company that is a leader in systems for containment of diesel engine emissions.

The campaign, which extends throughout Italy, will begin in mid October and end at the end of December, or until inventory runs out, and includes three categories of incentives based on type of vehicle: 500 euros for light commercial vehicle filters (vans, minivans,  minibuses, etc.), 750 euros for midsized commercial vehicle filters and 1000 euros for filters for heavy commercial vehicles (trucks). 

The aim of the Pirelli campaign, for those operating in transportation, is to stimulate immediate adoption of the filter systems, which allow for containment of substances damagining to the environment and to health in emissions from the most polluting vehicles. The Pirelli incentives, to be allocated with respect for current regulations regarding adaption of vehicles in circulation, are cumulative with those available from the public administration, for example the Lombardy Region, for purchase and fitting of particulate filter systems.

Feelpure particulate filters remove more than 90% of fine and ultra-fine particle matter  emissions (Pm10 and lower), the most dangerous to human health, and 50% of nitrogen dioxide of emissions. Installation of Feelpure filters allows Euro 1-2 vehicles to reach the Euro 4 vehicle category, and Euro 3 vehicles to reach the Euro 5 vehicle category.

For more information on how to access incentives, see www.pirelliecotechnology.com.

Beijing, 15 September 2009 – The Italian Ministry for the Environment, Land and Sea, the Ministry of Environmental Protection of the People’s Republic of China, and the Pirelli Group signed a protocol agreement for distribution of technologies for reduction of diesel vehicle emissions in China. The signing took place today in Beijing, in the presence of the Italian Minister, Stefania Prestigiacomo, Chinese authorities, and the Chairman of the Pirelli Group, Marco Tronchetti Provera.

The agreement is part of the environmental cooperation program launched by the two ministries in 2000, with implementation of more than 90 cooperation projects for containment of environmental impact through development and distribution of cutting edge Italian technologies.

The agreement foresees collaboration among the three parties in development of projects for distribution of filter systems for reduction of particulate emissions from diesel vehicles already in circulation (‘retrofit’) and introduction of technologies and advanced products, as the Pirelli products have been shown to be following tests and pilot projects already completed.

Technologies for containment of vehicle pollution represent one of the most promising markets in China, given the growing attention that the local institutions are reserving to environmental problems. A joint commitment by the Italian environment ministry and the Chinese environmental protection ministry will focus on the five provinces recently singled out by the Chinese government for adoption of measures to limit circulation of polluting vehicles, among which Shandong (the location of the Pirelli plant) alone counts more than 100 million inhabitants, for distribution of filter systems of Pirelli Eco Technology, as already done in Beijing.

The second protocol agreement signed today by the Italian Ministry for the Environment, Land and Sea, the Municipality of Beijing, and Pirelli Eco Technology to support installation of filters on polluting vehicles circulating in Beijing, is part of this commitment. The agreement follows the completion of a pilot project launched in 2008, which brought homologation of the filters produced by the Pirelli Group, thanks to their particular technological characteristics. The city of Beijing has already ordered a significant quantity of  Pirelli Eco Technology filter systems which will be fitted on buses in the capital city.
 

The new factory will require an investment in different phases which on the basis of the evolution of the market could reach 50 million euros over three years, with annual production of around 100 thousand filters and 1200 employees

Beijing, 15 September 2009 – Pirelli signed a “Memorandum of Understanding” with Hixih Group (previously the Yinhe Group), already a partner of Pirelli since 2005 in tyre manufacturing, to build a plant for manufacturing of filters in Yanzhou, in the province of Shandong.

The agreement is linked to the protocols signed today with the Italian Ministry for the Environment, Land and Sea, the Ministry of Environmental Protection of the People’s Republic of China and the Municipality of Beijing for distribution of cutting edge technologies for reduction of polluting emissions from diesel vehicles in China. The agreement will allow Pirelli to strengthen and consolidate the presence it has had in China since 2005.

The new factory, whose construction is expected to begin in the first quarter of  2010, will be located in the same area where the manufacturing sites developed by the two partners for production of truck and car tyres were built, and will thus create a diversified industrial hub able to profit from synergies in manufacturing and distribution of the two products.

The plant for particulate filters, both ‘retrofit’ and for original equipment, will be developed gradually. The investment, already included in the 2009-2011 industrial plan, will take into account the evolution of the market and could reach 50 million euros in three years, with manufacturing capacity of around 100,000 filters per year and approximately 1200 employees.

The Feelpure™ filter systems produced by Pirelli Eco Technology are able to reduce particulate emissions from diesel engines by more than 90%, and NO2 emissions by 50%. The systems can be installed on vehicles already in circulation (retrofit), representing an immediate and affordable application, which guarantees significant environmental advantages in a short time.  Following the pilot project launched in Beijing in 2008, the filters produced by the Pirelli Group, thanks to their particular technological characteristics, were recently homologated. The Beijing Municipality has already ordered a significant quantity of Pirelli Eco Technology filter systems which will be fitted on buses in the capital city.

The Pirelli Group has had an industrial presence in China since 2005, when its first factory for truck tyres was built in Yanzhou in the Shandong province. In the same area, at the end of 2007, the Group launched a second factory for manufacturing of high performance car tyres.

With investments amounting to more than 2 billion RMB, or more than 200 million euros, as of today, the industrial site currently uses advanced manufacturing technology and represents a manufacturing, logistics and commercial hub for the entire Asia-Pacific region for the Pirelli Group. Today about 60% of Pirelli’s overall production in China is for the local market, while the remaining 40% is exported to other Asia-Pacific markets.

With a headcount of nearly 2,000 employees, today the two factories produce about 700,000 tyres per year in the truck segment and 2.5 million tyres in the car segment: the industrial plan target is to reach about one million truck tyres and about 5 million car tyres in the 2009-2011 three-year period.

The plan for creating a site for production of particulate filters represents the third phase of development for the Pirelli Group in China and a further step in its international consolidation. Today Pirelli counts 23 factories in 12 countries.

China, in particular, represents one of the most interesting markets for Pirelli, where the brand of the Italian group is rapidly affirming itself. In 2008 the Group photographed and presented the ‘Pirelli Calendar’ in Shanghai, and, more recently, signed an agreement for three-year sponsorship of the main Chinese football championship, the ‘Chinese Super League’, now called the ‘Pirelli Super League’.

Milan, 19 March 2009 – Pirelli Eco Technology has begun installing particulate filters on public transportation buses in Piedmont. By the end of September 2009, the Pirelli Group company which operates in the field of emissions control technology will install its filters on 879 regional buses, with the capacity to reduce particulate emissions by a minimum of 90% and nitrogen dioxide emissions by 50%.

The installation is going ahead thanks to 7 million euros appropriated by the Piedmont Region in the context of a plan to improve air quality, with a commitment on the part of GTT-Gruppo Torinese Trasporti in the role of lead company for the bidding procedures and with the collaboration of vehicle dealer Orecchia SpA.

Pirelli technology will thus contribute to reducing the environmental impact of emissions in Piedmont, by raising the standards of buses involved from Euro 2 emissions levels to Euro 5, eliminating about 19 tons of particulate matter per year in the city of Turin and 44 tons per year in the region as a whole. At the end of February 2009, there were already more than 270 filter systems installed on buses in the fleet of the Piedmont public transportation company.

“The choice by the Piedmont Region illustrates the usefulness of the technology created by Pirelli in support of the public transportation company’s commitment to combating particulate emissions,” said Bruno Tronchetti Provera, CEO of Pirelli Eco Technology. “With the simple substitution of the muffler and installation of our filter system, public transportation companies can reach emissions levels foreseen by Euro 5 norms, significantly improving city air quality with benefits for the health of citizens, without substituting their existing fleets, and taking advantage of eco-incentives under the recent auto industry stimulus plan.”

The Pirelli filter system has four main elements: a particulate filter in silicon carbide made up of a honeycomb-type structure that traps the particulate matter, mainly composed of carbon particles of various sizes (the so-called PM10), a silencer which houses the particulate filter, a fuel additive (ferrocene) which allows complete combustion when a temperature of around 250/280°C is reached, and a control unit for controlling the proper functioning of the system.

Milan (Italy), 17 February 2009 – Pirelli Eco Technology, the company within the Pirelli Group operating in the field of technologies for control of polluting emissions, signed a partnership with Swedish Diesel Particulate Filter specialist GB Environment Consulting AB in order to introduce and distribute the new Pirelli Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) systems and spare parts in Scandinavian, Finland and the Baltic markets.

Pirelli Diesel Particulate Filter systems, called Feelpure™, are produced using silicon carbide, a thermal-shock-resistant ceramic material, and allow for an average reduction in particulate matter emitted by diesel engines of more than 95% and the abatement of 50% of NO2. With this new partnership, Pirelli Eco Technology continues to pursue its growth strategy across Europe. Over the last few months the company has begun sales of its solution in the UK, Germany, Italy and Benelux. Pirelli designs and develops the entire filtering system, made up of a replacing muffler comprising a filter, a catalytic converter (optional) and a regeneration system (control unit and additive). Pirelli DPFs are VERT-tested, homologated by the RDW for the Dutch market, certified LEC for the London Low Emission Zone, BAFU-certified for Switzerland, homologated for Italy and Denmark and are undergoing testing for homologation in Germany.

“We are extremely proud of the partnership we signed with GB Environment Consulting AB” said Stefano Sanchini, General Sales Manager of Pirelli Eco Technology. “GB Environment fullfils our mandatory requests of reliability, after sales service capability, market knowledge and technological skills in the DPF business.”

Göran Blohm, owner of GB Environment Consulting AB, welcomes Pirelli Feelpure to the Scandinavian Market. “Our Company has got offers from many Particlefilter producers over the last year to represent them but all were refused from me, I waited for Pirelli, I followed the development of the Feelpure System and we know today that we represent one of the best and most reliable Particlefilter system in the world based on additive regeneration. We are also proud to see that the Feelpure is approved from VERT (the hardest filter system test in the world )” said Göran Blohm.

About Pirelli Eco Technology
Pirelli Eco Technology is the company within the Pirelli Group active in solutions for sustainable mobility and reduction of emissions of diesel engines with the production of  particulate filters (Feelpure™) and a “white diesel” (Gecam™). Filter systems for buses and heavy vehicles already in circulation (retrofit) are manufactured in the factory in Arese in the province of Milan. A new factory in Romania began manufacturing original equipment filters for cars in late 2008.
For more information: www.pirelliecotechnology.com

About GB Environment Consulting AB,

GB Environment Consulting AB based in the south of Sweden, close to Malmö, is a leading Company in Scandinavia,Finland, Iceland and the Baltic countries for development and distributing dieselcleaning products such as  soot and particlefilter, oxidation and lpg catalysts, sparkarrestors and silencers.
The company is led by MR Göran Blohm, who has a long experience of handling the problems around cleaning dieselexhaust from gaseous pollutions and sootparticulates.
To spread the sales to other Nordic and Baltic countries the company is active searching for local distributors.
Mr Blohm is a member of the famous and wellrespected AKPF ( Arbeitskreis Partiklefilter ), a Swissbased International expertgroup.

Using this new technology SITA will become a leader in clean waste collection.”We have set ourselves high goals” said Eddy de Jong, Fleet Manager at SITA. “With the filters that were on the market we could not have reached this goal, given that those filters function only with high temperature engines. SITA only drives small distances so the filters had to be adjusted to this.  By applying the Pirelli filters SITA is making its next step in terms of durable waste management.”

New emissions limits are required by regulations from Dutch Environment Ministry VROM. These state that only Euro 2 and 3 vehicles with a diesel particulate filter can access the environmental zones, e.g. in inner cities. The amount of soot produced by the SITA trucks with a Pirelli filter will be as low as in Euro 4/5, depending on the age and engine of the vehicle.

“The choice of Sita” – said Niels de Zwaan, Business Development Director of Pirelli Eco Technology for Northern European countries – “demonstrates how the simple substitution of the muffler and installation of the new Pirelli regeneration filter system is effective in combating particulate matter emissions. Our innovative new technology is available in 40 different solutions for garbage trucks, buses & LDVs, and complies with EU norms in terms of pollutant emissions for all Low Emission Zones.”

Pirelli Eco Technology
Pirelli Eco Technology is the company in the Pirelli Group active in solutions for sustainable mobility and reduction of emissions of diesel engines with the production of Gecam, the white diesel, and Feelpure particulate filters. Filter systems for buses and heavy vehicles already in circulation (retrofit) are manufactured in the factory in Arese in the province of Milan.

SITA (Suez Environment)
SITA is a specialist in the area of sustainable waste management. SITA takes care of collection, processing and/or recycling of many different kinds of waste: common waste, company waste, glass, paper and cardboard. But also: confidential information carriers, hazardous waste and specifically hospital waste. SITA is also active in street cleaning and for soil decontamination, sewer control and maintenance. SITA The Netherlands employes some 2.400 people at 40 sites.

Organisation – SITA is part of SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT, the water and waste part onf industrial group GDF SUEZ. Due to the merger between Gaz de France and SUEZ to become GDF SUEZ, the water and waste activities were given a separate quotation on the Paris Stock Exchange as SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT.

The Group’s new filter business continues to grow following recent launch in China and start of commercial activity in Germany, UK and Benelux

Milan, 20 October 2008 - Pirelli Eco Technology, the company in the Pirelli Group which operates in technologies for control of diesel engine emissions, said it was the first in Italy to receive homologation for five types of particulate filters for light and heavy commercial vehicles already in circulation, from the Italian Infrastructure and Transportation Ministry. Pirelli silicon carbide particulate filters are able to reduce particulate emissions in diesel vehicles by more than 95%, creating a significant improvement in air quality.

Following the homologation, vehicles fitted with Pirelli particulate filters will benefit from a better emissions class with respect to the Euro standard (Euro0-Euro5) and will be able to circulate freely in urban areas where vehicles with more polluting emissions are prohibited.

With this new recognition, the Pirelli particulate filter business continues to expand, following the launch last July of a pilot project for heavy vehicles in the Beijing Municipality, and the recent start of commercial activity in important European countries like Germany, the UK, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. Currently Pirelli filters are fitted on numerous vehicle fleets of companies transporting merchandise, and of environmental services, as well as on local public transportation vehicles including 150 Gruppo Arriva buses.

Pirelli Eco Technology particulate filters for light and heavy commercial vehicles already in circulation, also certified in Switzerland, the Netherlands and the UK and currently undergoing homologation tests in Germany and Austria, have been produced in a factory in Arese (Milan) since 2005. In addition, before the end of this year, commercial activity will begin for original equipment filters for cars, to be manufactured in a new factory in Bumbesti, Romania.

Pilot project launched ahead of Olympic Games

The Italian Ministry for the Environment signed an agreement with the Municipality of Beijing to launch a pilot project in the Chinese capital for testing particulate filter technology developed by Pirelli Eco Technology, able to reduce by more than 95% particulate emissions from diesel engines.

The agreement, signed today in Beijing by Shi Hanmin, Director of the Environmental Protection Bureau of Beijing and Corrado Clini, Director General of the Italian Ministry for the Environment, in the presence of Marco Tronchetti Provera, Chairman of the Pirelli Group, calls for installation of Pirelli filter systems on heavy duty vehicles (mainly buses, but also trucks and later snowploughs and tractors) used by the local public transportation company. The first filter systems will be installed before the start of the Olympics, and the rest after the Summer.

This project is part of a wider Sino-Italian Collaboration Program for Environmental Protection – begun in 2000 – which has realized more than 80 projects for elaboration and experimentation of advanced technology solutions for sustainable development in China.
 
Ahead of the Beijing 2008 Olympics, the Italian Ministry for the Environment has strengthened its cooperation with the Beijing Municipality and has supported the city in its “Green Olympics” Program with numerous projects in mobility and sustainable urban planning, monitoring and control of air and water pollution, prevention of sandstorms, and environmental education.

This new project launches a pilot test in China of Pirelli’s particulate filter technology. The filter systems designed in Italy can be installed on vehicles already in circulation (retrofit), and represent a solution that can be applied immediately and inexpensively, which guarantees considerable environmental advantages very quickly. Pirelli particulate filters are currently fitted on public transportation vehicles, company cars, and private vehicles in various Italian cities. Since 2008, the Company has also started marketing its filter systems in Germany, the Netherlands and Britain. In the second half of this year, in addition, the new factory in Gorj (Romania) will begin production, mainly dedicated to original equipment filters for automobiles. In addition, the joint-venture agreement Pirelli is currently negotiating with Russian Technologies includes the possible start of particulate filter manufacturing in Russia.

The Italian Minister for the Environment, Stefania Prestigiacomo, emphasized that “The agreement represents not only a way of reducing particulate emissions and protecting the environment, but also bears witness to technological innovation in the environmental field realized by Italy and exported to China and around the world. The environmental cooperation with China, one of the most demanding programs of this Ministry, has, in fact, a goal of supporting an effective strategy for global protection of the environment, inserting itself positively into the rapid evolution of Chinese environmental policy, and placing itself as an example of Italian excellence in public-private cooperation.“

“The theme of air quality” – commented Marco Tronchetti Provera, chairman of the Pirelli Group – is by now vital to all the main cities around the world, due to traffic congestion. We are finding, in Italy as in Europe and in other countries around the world, growing attention by public administration authorities to policies and technologies that can help reduce polluting emissions. We are pleased that the city of Beijing has decided to test our solution and we hope that this pilot project will be the first step on a long journey together. We are also very pleased with the fruitful collaboration with the Ministry for the Environment, a demonstration of the importance for our country of the union between the public sector’s skill in systemic response, and the technology and know-how of the private sector“.