Environment

 

Approach

Targets and performances

360° Eco-innovation

Principal "Green" corporate commitments in 2008

 

Pirelli Tyre's most significant corporate commitments in terms of environmental sustainability are:

Chairmanship of ETRMA (European Tyre and Rubber Manufacturers Association)
In October 2008 Francesco Gori, Chief Executive Officer and General Manager of Pirelli Tyre, was re-elected Chairman of ETRMA for his second consecutive threeyear term, a sign of continuity for the priorities to be pursued: environmental protection, road safety and greater competitiveness (more on www.etrma.org )

WBCSD (World Business Council for Sustainable Development)
Pirelli actively participated in WBCSD again in 2008. Headquartered in Geneva, this is an association of about 200 international companies based in over 30 countries that have made a voluntary commitment to pursue economic growth with sustainable development.
Pirelli Tyre is a member of the Tire Industry Project Group, the project launched in 2006 to identify the potential impact on health and the environment of the materials associated with the manufacture and use of tyres. The heads of leading world tyre manufacturers that belong to the group met in Tokyo on 12 June, sixteen months after research work began. This important event offered an update on programme progress and outlined new approaches to study. (more on www.wbscd.org )

The Pirelli Group and the Milan Polytechnic have signed an agreement to create a professor's chair, which was funded together with five scholarships for doctoral degrees over the course of ten years on the "Chemical Foundations of Rubber and Compound Technology". It will organise the study of innovative materials and application of nanotechnology for the development of new generation, low environmental impact tyres.

The Silvio Tronchetti Provera Foundation and the Shandong University in Jinan (China) have signed a research agreement
for the study of a new generation of "green tyres". The university researchers will work with the Pirelli Group's R&D
Department in China to create tyres with low resistance to rolling, in order to reduce vehicle fuel consumption.

The Company has always pursued the goal of disseminating and consolidating a safety, energy efficiency and sustainable mobility culture, aware of the tyre industry's role in daily life. In 2008 it spearheaded major actions to raise awareness in collaboration with public institutions, business associations and other industrial groups inside and outside Italy.

In partcular:

• The "Advices on eco-driving" published on Pirelli Tyre institutional web site are an immediate example of this approach (more on www.pirellityre.com /"Cinturato Family" / section / Advices on eco-driving)
  
  
• the "Viaggia in Sicurezza" (Travel Safely ) initiative, with which Pirelli Tyre participated in the ENI "30PERCENTO ("30 PER CENT) energy efficiency campaign. The aim is to explain the importance of energy saving for environmental protection as well as the household budget, with the primary focus on consumers. Through "Viaggia in Sicurezza", which provided free tyre pressure checks at 400 outlets of the Driver network, Pirelli Tyre contributed to educating motorists in the proper maintenance of tyres, the first step towards ensuring energy efficiency, reducing harmful emissions and driving more safely.
  
• the adhesion to the Progetto 10x10 by  Quattroruote®, which was initiated at the end of 2007 by this leading monthly car magazine, and commits ten big companies to reduce the carbon dioxide emissions - CO2 - of their company fleets by 10%. Pirelli Tyre immediately joined the 10x10 project by adopting the objective to reduce the carbon dioxide emissions of its own Italian corporate car fleet by 10%. Most vehicles in this fleet are equipped with Cinturato tyres that, as previously mentioned, can reduce fuel consumption and harmful emissions by up to 4%, while guaranteeing high mileage (+30%).(more on www.quattroruote.it > Eco10x10)

In parallel with the 10x10 project, the Company has promoted an initiative to raise awareness on the issue of environmental impact by involving as wide a public as pos sible, by engaging the participation of Pirelli tyre buyers to contribute to reforestation and protection of an area in the Parco del Ticino that can absorb at least 50,000 kg of CO2 in a few years

In addition to taking steps to increase employee awareness on the issue of reducing air pollution and encouraging eco-compatible driving courses, the company has introduced corporate car pooling and intercompany shuttle services. The decision to privilege videoconferences over traditional personal trips and the use of public transport is consistent with this strategy. Systems for enhancing more efficient organisation of trips to visit customers have been suggested to the sales force.